“Even the biggest detractors of the United States agree that its presence is necessary for any agreement in the Middle East. And if you see the Israel-Egypt peace treaty, if you see the Israel-Jordan peace treaty, the US was very much there. And because of that, those treaties happened.”
T S Tirumurti, India’s former representative to the Palestinian Authority in 1996, uses that argument to push his idea that India should be a part of the Board of Peace constituted by President Trump to stabilise and reconstruct war torn Gaza.
India is currently an observer but Tirumurti, was as India’s permanent representative in the UN, also believes the stakes for this country are huge. It has good relations with Israel and the BJP government has developed ties with the Gulf Arab states too. Add to that a huge Indian diaspora, energy supplies and the potential the region holds if peace returns to Gaza.
“They have put out what is called a 20 point plan. Now they have a ceasefire going. Of course, 600 people have been killed even during the ceasefire period. But something is going on,” Trumurti said, underscoring that “President Trump is fully engaged and the Board of Peace has been endorsed by the UN Security Council through a resolution.”
Trump’s detractors, he says, are not being fair when they criticise the Board of Peace. Any other arrangement would have a similar outline.
“You will have the same thing. You will talk about the multinational force. You will talk about regional players getting involved in the you know, in this whole issue, you will talk about reconstruction. You will talk about humanitarian aid, which is all there.”
He underlined the urgency of the situation. The Palestinian enclave in the West Bank is being erased as Jewish settlements expand and the original inhabitants are being forced to leave. The time to be proactive is now and he believes even the right-wing government in Israel would see value in permanent viable security.
Tune in for more in this conversation with Ambassador T S Tirumurti, former representative to the Palestinian Authority and permanent representative to the UN.
