India calls for direct peace talks between Israel, Palestine based on global consensus
India TV NewsWith Israel in the process of forming a government and Palestine facing elections in the coming months, India has said the international community must use this phase to focus on how to encourage the parties back to "meaningful negotiations" for achieving a peaceful solution to the dispute. "India has consistently called for direct peace negotiations between Israel and Palestine, based on a global consensus on the end-goal of a two-state solution," India's Permanent Representative to the United Nations Ambassador TS Tirumurti said at the Security Council briefing on the Middle East on Thursday. "The international community must use this phase to focus on how to encourage the parties back to meaningful negotiations with the goal of achieving a peaceful solution to the dispute," Tirumurti added. "India strongly supports a negotiated solution resulting in a sovereign, independent, and viable State of Palestine living within secure and recognized borders, side by side at peace with Israel," he said.