There has to be 2-state solution to Israel-Palestine issue: EAM Jaishankar

External affairs minister S Jaishankar has said that what happened on October 7 is "a big act of terrorism and we all need to stand up against it but at the same time also stressed the need for a solution to the Palestine issue".

Addressing a joint secretary session of the Senate's External Affairs and Defence Commission in Rome on Thursday, Jaishankar said, "What happened on October 7 is a big act of terrorism and the subsequent happenings after that, have taken the entire region to a different direction... Within this, we have to find a balance between different issues... We all find terrorism unacceptable and we have to stand up against terrorism but there is also an issue of Palestine. There has to be a solution to the problems faced by the Palestinian people."

Reiterating New Delhi's position of a 'two-state' solution in the Israel-Palestine conflict, he said "if you have to find a solution, you have to find it through dialogue and negotiation".


"Our view is that it has to be a two-state solution... You cannot find a solution through conflict and terrorism... We believe that international humanitarian law must be respected by everybody...," he said.

'Revival of return of history'

Referring to Indo-Italy ties, Jaishankar said, "Italy is surely, I think historically, among our oldest links with Europe.

"And I will come to the connectivity and what, Senator, you call the cotton road, which in many ways is like a revival of return of history. But in recent years, I would say, Italy has also made a very major contribution to strengthening our cooperation with European Union as a whole," he said.

"In recent years, there have also been more conversations between us on connectivity, as I mentioned. And we very much welcome, both Italy and the European Union's greater interest in the Indo-Pacific. For us, your presence there, your activities there, your interest there is a stabilising factor."