'UNSC's failure to resolve Palestinian issue raises questions'

India has said that the UN Security Council has been merely a "standby witness" to the long-standing Israeli-Palestine issue and the world body's failure to achieve a peaceful solution to the conflict raises questions about its effectiveness.
Reiterating India's support to the amicable resolution of the Palestinian issue, Indian envoy to the UN Asoke Mukerji expressed concern that the UNSC has not been able to achieve the objective of a peaceful solution to "one of the long standing" issues before it.
"The Council has at best been a standby witness to phases of escalation and relative calm which has become characteristic of this unsettled issue. The effectiveness of the Council has consequently been brought into question," he said at the UNSC open debate on the 'Situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian Question' yesterday.

He said India joins other nations in urging the UNSC to step up its efforts and take the lead in resolving the issue.
India has supported the cause of Palestine and expressed solidarity with the Palestinian people for their struggle for a sovereign, independent, viable and a united State of Palestine within secure and recognised borders side-by-side at peace with Israel and with East Jerusalem as its capital.
Mukerji said India remains firmly convinced that dialogue remains the only viable option that can effectively address the issue. "We are particularly worried that last year saw a downward trend in the Peace Process. Efforts for serious negotiations between the parties were inconclusive," he said.

Addressing the debate, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said that the prospects of a two-State solution in the Middle East are getting dimmer with potentially explosive consequences for the entire region. He urged the international community to boost efforts at bringing both Israeli and Palestinian delegations back to the negotiating table.

Mukerji also expressed deep concern over the activities of "proscribed outfits, radicalised and extremist groups" in the Middle East region especially in northern parts of Iraq and Syria that are critically impacting peace and stability.
"We believe the consolidation of political processes and solutions while building durable state institutions will be the effective way of addressing such extremism and radicalism in the region," he said.

In the backdrop of terror groups targeting peacekeepers, Mukerji said UNSC resolutions that proscribe terrorist groups operating in the region need to be implemented.
On the crisis in Yemen, India urged all parties to return to the negotiating table as dialogue remains the effective solution to resolve all problems.
Mukerji informed the Council that India took proactive and effective steps in evacuating thousands of its citizens as well as many other nationals stranded in Yemen.
India not only safely evacuated 4,741 of its citizens but also 1,947 foreign nationals from 48 countries.
On Syria, India reiterated its support to a Syrian-led, comprehensive political solution to the ongoing crisis, in alignment with the Geneva Communique of 2012.