India attended Board of Peace meeting as an observer: MEA

New Delhi: The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Friday stated that India attended the Board of Peace’s first meeting in Washington on Thursday as an observer country and continues to back all efforts underway to find peace in Gaza as part of the UN Security Council (UNSC) resolution.

“We did attend the Board of Peace meeting in Washington DC as an observer. We have also welcomed the Gaza Peace Plan initiative of President Trump, as well as all such efforts underway as part of Resolution 2803 of the UNSC,” Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal stated at the weekly media briefing in New Delhi.

Representatives from over 40 countries, including several Heads of State attended the inaugural meet. India was represented at the meeting by Namgya Khampa, Charge d’Affaires at the Indian Embassy in Washington DC.

The MEA spokesperson also clarified India’s stance on signing a joint statement that had expressed concerns over Israel’s “unilateral” measures in the occupied West Bank.

“You may be aware that this was not a negotiated document as is usually the case in the UN. Our position on this issue was most recently expressed in the India-Arab League Ministerial Joint statement,” said Jaiswal.

He was referring to the ‘Delhi Declaration of the Second India-Arab Foreign Ministers’ Meeting’ issued on January 31 following the second India Arab Foreign Ministers’ Meeting. The meeting saw the participation of Foreign Ministers of Arab States and the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States and was preceded by the meeting of India Arab Senior Officials on January 30.

On the issue of Palestine, the Declaration stated: “Both sides reaffirmed their commitment to achieving a just, comprehensive, and lasting peace in the Middle East, according to international law, relevant UN resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative. They called for a sovereign, independent and viable State of Palestine based on 1967 borders, living side by side in peace with Israel. Both parties supported the practice of inalienable rights of the Palestinian people.”

IANS