Marking an increased rhetoric on Gaza violence, India on Wednesday made a more forceful criticism of the “disproportionate” use of force by Israel, and joined South Africa and Brazil in supporting the efforts for a ceasefire by Egypt and Arab League.
External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said India had categorically stated that “disproportionate use of force was unacceptable”.
While Israel was not named, there was no doubt that the Jewish nation was being criticised here for its aerial attacks on Gaza, which it claimed “was in retaliation for Hamas rocket attacks”.
According to sources, Palestine had not been happy with the earlier response of India, which they had deemed of being too uncritical of Israel. Later in New York, a joint statement was released by IBSA, which expressed their “concern over the disproportionate and excessive use of force”. “The IBSA countries express their strong support for the mediation efforts by Egypt, the League of Arab States and the UN Secretary-General.