On Friday, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged national legislatures throughout the world to join together to combat terrorism.
In his opening remarks at the 9th G20 Parliamentary Speakers’ Summit, which will be held in New Delhi over the next two days, Modi warned that the globe’s current conflicts and confrontations benefit no one and that a “divided world cannot give solutions for challenges before humanity.”
“For long years, India has faced cross-border terrorism. Terrorists attacked our parliament during a session almost 20 years ago. “The world is also realising how serious terrorism is for the world,” the Indian prime minister said. “The world’s parliaments and their representatives must consider how to collaborate in this fight.”
He stated that now is the moment for “peace and brotherhood” as well as “development and welfare of all.”
Modi’s words come amid a weekend of brutal attacks on Israeli communities by the Palestinian militant group Hamas, triggering a regional escalation not seen in decades and claiming over 2,800 lives on both sides of the war.
One day before the prime minister’s latest remarks, New Delhi repeated its position on the Israel-Palestine conflict. “Our policy in this regard has been long-standing and consistent,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi told reporters on Thursday. India has long pushed for the resumption of direct negotiations aimed at establishing a sovereign, independent, and viable state of Palestine, living side by side in peace within secure and recognised borders.
Bagchi, on the other hand, emphasised a “universal obligation to observe international humanitarian law,” emphasising that there is “also a global responsibility to fight the menace of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.”
After Modi condemned the terrorist attacks on Israel on October 7, when Hamas militants launched their so-called ‘Al-Aqsa Flood’ operation, firing missiles from Gaza towards Israel and storming Israeli settlements, killing hundreds of civilians and taking dozens as hostages, New Delhi clarified its stance on the issue.
“Deeply shocked by the news of terrorist attacks in Israel,” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote on X (previously Twitter). “Our hearts go out to the innocent victims and their families.” In this terrible time, we stand in solidarity with Israel.” Modi later decried “terrorism in India.”
