The outreach of India to Arab states regarding the aftermath of the Hamas assaults on Israel included a conversation on Friday between External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and his Saudi counterpart, Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud.
The discussion between the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia and India comes after Jaishankar’s Wednesday discussion with his colleague Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
“Enjoyed the talk with Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister HH @FaisalbinFarhan.” talked about the dire circumstances in the Middle East,” Jaishankar wrote on X.
India has called the Hamas attack on southern Israel a terrorist strike, but it has also emphasised that it has consistently supported direct talks aimed at creating a Palestinian state that is independent and able to coexist with Israel.
India maintains strategic and deep ties with Israel as well as important Arab nations like Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. Several Arab states were uneasy with the Indian leadership’s first reaction to the events in Israel.
Among the few Arab nations to denounce the bombings over the weekend were the UAE and Bahrain, which restored relations with Israel by signing the US-backed Abraham Accords. The two nations also condemned the kidnapping of and called the Hamas strikes a serious and dangerous escalation.
In marked contrast, other Arab states such as Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia attributed the upsurge in violence to continuing violations and attacks by Israeli “occupation” forces against Palestinians, including repeated incursions into Al-Aqsa Mosque, which is Islam’s third holiest site.
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The statements issued by the foreign ministries of these countries also did not specifically name Hamas, reflecting the rift within the Arab world on the issue.
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