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Describing It 'Shocking', India Calls For An End To Violence In West Asia
By IOL South Asia Correspondent
NEW DELHI, March 30 (IslamOnline) - Indian External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh has described the recent developments in West Asia as ''extremely disturbing'' and called for an end to the violence there.
Singh, who is currently visiting China, said the Saudi Peace Plan should be given a chance and the vicious cycle of violence must end.
''I just spoke to Tel Aviv to bring myself up-to-date on the latest developments. I do believe the developments there are extremely disturbing. I have expressed my concern and advised even now the Saudi Peace Plan must be given a chance and the vicious cycle of violence must end,'' he told reporters in Beijing.
In the United Nations, India today described as "shocking" Israel's treatment of the Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and urged the two warring sides to eschew violence and start negotiations.
"We do not see how the siege of President Arafat and military operations at his headquarters in any way contribute to eventual cessation of violence or greater security," India's Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations, A. Gopinathan, told the Security Council.
Participating in the debate on the situation in the Middle East, he stressed on the need to resume dialogue to realise the vision of the two sides. Stating that the parties have moved away from that vision, he called on the Council to express the collective will of the international community for immediate resumption of dialogue.
The Indian representative said the adoption of the Saudi proposal by the Arab League Summit in Beirut had given a momentum to the peace process in the Middle East.
But only a day later, the "needless escalation of violence in the region" is causing "deepest concern," he added.
Although the media here has been fully reporting the Israeli gangsterism in the West Bank, there is no official reaction here yet, since the whole country was celebrating the spring festival, Holi, yesterday and today is the first day of the weekend when offices are closed.
Even the prime minister is holidaying in a summer retreat. Muslim organisations have not shown any reaction yet. They are busy with the on-going pogrom in Gujarat, which for the first time in the history of independent India has taken the dimensions of a State-abetted genocide with emphasis on the economic devastation of the Muslims of a whole state.
Muslims constitute about ten million out of Gujarat's 50 million population. There is anger in Indian Muslim circles that Muslim countries have shown no interest in the mass murder of Muslims in India.
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