India has expressed hope that Palestine's enhanced status atthe UN will pave the way for resumption of "serious and direct" talkswith Israel as it voiced concern that the continued impasse between the two partiesover settlement activities threaten the two-state solution.
India was among the 138 nations that voted in favour ofPalestine at a historic UN General Assembly vote that upgraded the status ofthe Palestinian Authority to non-member observer state from an entity.
The US and Israel and were among only nine nations in the193-member UN body that voted against Palestine in Thursday's vote.
"We hope that the vote in the General Assembly willpave the way for the resumption of serious, direct talks between thePalestinians and the Israelis," India's Permanent Representative to the UNAmbassador Hardeep Singh Puri said at a General Assembly session here yesterdayon the 'Question of Palestine and the situation in the Middle East.'
Puri regretted that while democratic aspirations of peoplein several Arab countries was being addressed through national politicalprocesses over the last two years, the Palestinian question and relatedArab-Israeli issues remained largely un-addressed and unresolved.
"For more than two years now, there have been no directtalks between Israel and Palestine. Meanwhile, the situation in the occupiedPalestinian territories has been deteriorating due to settlement activities inthe West Bank and East Jerusalem," Puri said.
"These activities are creating new realities on theground, and threaten the very premise of a two-state solution," he said.
Settlements, roadblocks and the related infrastructure ofoccupation have exacerbated the humanitarian problems of the Palestinian peopleand are adversely affecting the normal functioning of state institutions, hesaid.
The Palestinian Authority is also facing a severe financialcrisis that could erode significant progress made by it in building stateinstitutions.
With the Gaza blockade entering its sixth year, thehumanitarian situation continues to deteriorate and essential services,economic activities and infrastructure development have been disrupted.
"We strongly condemn the violence and deeply regret theloss of human lives during the recent hostilities. We hope both the partieswill uphold the ceasefire agreement and implement its provisions in goodfaith," Puri said referring to the November 21 ceasefire between Israeland the Palestinian group Hamas which brought an end to eight days of violencethat left an estimated 158 Palestinians dead.
Tensions had escalated in the region earlier this monthfollowing rocket attacks against Israel from Gaza and Israeli airstrikes onGaza.
Puri also lamented that Palestine's application for fullmembership of the United Nations submitted more than a year ago had not evincedany positive action from the Security Council, despite overwhelming supportfrom the UN member-states.
Reiterating India's continued support for the Palestiniancause, Puri congratulated the leadership and people of Palestine on winning theGeneral Assembly vote.
"While we have long supported the aspirations of thePalestinian people and leadership for the full membership to the UnitedNations, the vote in the General Assembly is an important milestone towardsthat goal," he said.
Noting India's long history of solidarity with thePalestinian people, Puri said India was the first non-Arab country to recognisethe state of Palestine nearly 25 years ago.
