New Delhi, 12 October: The Ministry of External Affairs has clarified that India wants a sovereign, independent and secure Palestine with recognized borders that co-exists with Israel. For this, India is in favor of talks but terror is not acceptable in any way.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi answered questions related to Israel-Palestine and the recent Hamas attack in the weekly press conference on Thursday.
He said that India is in favor of following internationally decided humanitarian obligations in case of conflict. Also always supports the fight against terrorism.
He said that India’s priority at this time is the safety of its citizens. For this, the first charter flight under Operation Ajay will reach Israel today. The flight will leave for India tomorrow carrying around 230 citizens. He said that if necessary, help of Air Force will also be taken.
Bagchi said that there are 18 thousand Indian citizens in Israel, some of whom are students. We have asked Indians living there to register themselves with the embassy.
He told that there is information about one Indian being injured. He is slowly recovering. So far there is no major news of Indian casualties.
He also said that there is information about presence of 3 Indian citizens in Gaza Strip and 12 in West Bank. No request has been received yet for evacuation from there.
