Topics Covered: Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests, Indian diaspora.
West Asia Peace Plan
What to study?
For Prelims: Overview of the plan.
For Mains: Need for, significance and the issues involved.
Context: The West Asia peace plan was recently unveiled by U.S. President Trump.
What is it all about?
It plans to revive the stalled two-state talks between the Israelis and the Palestinians.
It seeks to give the Israelis an expansive state with Jerusalem as its “undivided capital” and tight security control over a future Palestinian state.
Key highlights of the plan:
- It proposes an independent Palestinian state and the recognition of Israeli sovereignty over West Bank settlements.
- As per the plan, Israel would be allowed to annex the Jewish settlements on the West Bank as well as the Jordan Valley.
- The Palestinian refugees, who were forced out from their homes during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war that followed the declaration of the state of Israel in the historic Palestine, would not be allowed to return. They could move to the future Palestinian state, be integrated into the host countries or settled in other regional countries.
- Land swap: The plan proposes some land swap for the Israeli annexation of the West Bank Jewish settlements. It seeks to enlarge Gaza and connect the strip with the West Bank through a tunnel.
- US has also proposed $50 billion in investment over 10 years should Palestine accept the proposals. In the final settlement, Palestine would get control over more land than what it currently controls.
Background:
Both Israel and the Palestinians hold competing claims to the holy city. The Palestinians insist that East Jerusalem, which Israel occupied in the 1967 Middle East war, be the capital of their future state.
How has the Palestine reacted?
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas dismissed the plans as a “conspiracy”. Thousands are protesting against this.
The Palestinians want an independent state of their own, comprising the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem.
India’s response:
- India urged both Israel and Palestine to “engage with each other, including on the recent proposals put forward by the United States, and find an acceptable two-state solution for peaceful coexistence”.
- India has since long been maintaining that Israel-Palestine conflict should be resolved through negotiation “resulting in sovereign, independent, viable and united State of Palestine, with East Jerusalem as its capital, living within secure and recognized borders, side by side at peace with Israel as endorsed in the Quartet Roadmap and relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions”.
Sources: the Hindu.
