Topics Covered: Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests, Indian diaspora.
U.S. announces restoration of relations with Palestinians:
Context:
U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration has announced that it is restoring relations with the Palestinians and renewing aid to Palestinian refugees.
- This is a reversal of the Donald Trump administration’s cutoff and a key element of its new support for a two-state solution to the decades-old conflict agreed to by Israelis and Palestinians.
Israel-Palestine Conflict:
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict dates back to the end of the nineteenth century, primarily as a conflict over territory.
- After the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, the Holy Land was divided into three parts: The State of Israel, the West Bank (of the Jordan River), and the Gaza Strip.
- The 1993 Oslo Accords mediated the conflict, to set up a framework for two state solution. It recognized the Palestinian Authority tasked with limited self-governance of parts of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
West Asia peace plan:
- Unveiled by former U.S. President Trump.
- 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.
InstaLinks:
Prelims Link:
- Overview of the proposed West Asia Peace plan?
- What is Six Day war?
- About the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.
- Middle East quartet.
Locate the following on map:
- Golan Heights.
- West Bank.
Sources: the Hindu.
