Manak Sharma, Mumbai Uncensored, 28th November, 2023:

THE TWO-STATE SOLUTION

The two-state solution is believed to be the only possible way to end the conflict between Israel and Palestine. The solution proposes two separate states, Israel for the Jewish people and Palestine (including both Gaza and West Bank) for the Palestinian people. The solution is designed on the basis that both the states have the legal right to decide their own destiny in the international order. Both Israel and Palestine will share Jerusalem as their capital city. The border between the two states will be based upon the 1967 border before the third Arab-Israel war. In a fair and equitable manner, Palestinian refugees settled in different parts of the world will be allowed to return.

Since 1947, the United Nations has stated the two-state solution as its official policy but it has failed to be implemented and the Israel-Palestine conflict continues. Many countries around the world have endorsed the two-state solution including Qatar which is mediating between Hamas and Israel.

PROBLEMS IN IMPLEMENTATION

There are mainly three reasons why the two-state solution has failed to be implemented. First, both countries do not agree on the border of Palestine in future. Second, with the Israeli government building settlements continuously in occupied Palestinian territories, it becomes difficult to create a Palestinian state which will share the border with Israel. Third, the two-state solution does not clarify how the millions of Palestinian refugees living all around the world will be able to return to their country. Palestinian authorities will not agree to any solution which fails to address the issue of Palestinian refugees returning home.

CONCLUSION

The two-state solution might be complex and difficult to achieve but it is the only viable option to establish peace in the region and end the conflict which is causing hundreds of casualties daily since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7th this year.  The international community rather than instigating the war further, needs to mediate between the two countries encouraging them to make necessary compromises and agree on the two-state solution.  The two countries reaching a solution seems difficult but the four-day truce which will make both the IDF and Hamas return civilians taken as captives shows a ray of hope that the Israeli government and Hamas will agree to some deal and stop the war in near future.

The Biden administration is pressuring New Delhi to cut through its own red tape and finalise a deal for dozens of American-made armed drones ahead of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s state visit to Washington, according to two people familiar with the situation.

India has long indicated a desire to purchase huge, American-made armed drones. But for years, a deal for SeaGuardian drones that might be worth $2 billion to $3 billion has been stalled by bureaucratic roadblocks.

The visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the White House on June 22 is expected to help U.S. negotiators break the impasse.

The U.S. State Department, Pentagon, and White House have requested India to “show” progress on the agreement for up to 30 armable MQ-9B SeaGuardian drones built by General Atomics since the visit date was set, according to two sources.

While Modi is in Washington, the co-production of munitions and ground vehicles like armoured personnel carriers is also anticipated to be a topic of conversation between Modi and Biden, according to the sources.

Pentagon, Department of State, and White House spokesman all declined to comment on the talks.

While the world’s two largest democracies do not currently have a formal security alliance, U.S. President Joe Biden has made strengthening ties with India a key component of his strategy to counter China’s expanding influence. This year, in particular, Biden has focused on collaboration between the two countries on advanced military technologies.

New Delhi has irritated Washington by preserving some defence and economic connections with Russia after the invasion of Ukraine. New Delhi frequently values its non-alignment in wars between great powers abroad.

An internal conference to produce a “Acceptance of Necessity” document—the Indian equivalent of a formal “Letter of Request” that starts the foreign military sale process—could be the key to unlocking India’s bureaucratic bottleneck on drones. The sources were uncertain as of Tuesday as to whether New Delhi had produced the required internal document.

The Indian government will have to decide that, according to a senior Biden administration official. “We believe that they should proceed with the procurement of MQ-9s. However, India sort of has more control over those choices than we do.

As Jake Sullivan, Biden’s national security adviser, arrived in New Delhi on Tuesday to complete preparations for Modi’s visit, the subject was anticipated to be on the agenda.

According to a person familiar with the conversations, as of last week, the Indian defence ministry still wasn’t sure how many drones it wanted to purchase. The first estimate was for 30, but it was then changed to 24, and then further reduced to 18 last month. According to sources, none of the figures were definitive.

Any contract could be complicated by India’s need for equipment components to be produced domestically.

The MQ-9B SeaGuardian is currently or has previously been used by the Quad group of nations, which consists of the United States, India, Australia, and Japan. India is currently renting MQ-9Bs to use in intelligence gathering.

An Indian woman who wasn’t wearing her mask properly while briskly making her way to work during Covid-19 was verbally insulted and kicked in the chest by a Singaporean guy of Chinese descent, who was also found guilty. In May 2021, Wong Xing Fong, 32, attacked Madam Hindocha Nita Vishnubhai, 57, in the vicinity of the Northvale apartment complex in Choa Chu Kang.

Wong, who was found guilty on Tuesday, is scheduled to be punished on July 31 for assaulting Vishnubhai by kicking her in the chest and hurting her sentiments, according to The Straits Times newspaper. Vishnubhai testified that while wearing her mask down and briskly walked towards Choa Chu Kang stadium, where she worked at a fast-food restaurant, she heard yelling.

She turned around and spotted Wong with Chua Yun Han, his fiancée. They instructed her to cover up even though she didn’t know the pair. One activity that was excluded from wearing a mask over the mouth and nose was brisk walking.

According to the prosecution, Vishnubhai explained to the couple that she was briskly walking and made gestures to show that she was working out and perspiring while doing so. The accuser berated (and verbally humiliated) the complainant. The complainant responded, “God bless you,” to defuse the situation, the prosecution continued.

However, the accuser kicked the complainant in the chest region. The two of them then started to run away. According to Vishnubhai’s testimony, an onlooker assisted her in standing up and dressed a gash on her left forearm with plaster. That night, she made a police report.

According to the prosecution, the eyewitness, who had no connection to either party, claimed to have witnessed a guy kicking the woman. The prosecution defended Vishnubhai as a trustworthy witness and asserted that it is preposterous to infer that the complainant mysteriously fabricated the accused, a stranger.

Vishnubhai, according to Wong, was rude and belligerent and yelled insults at him. She allegedly spat at him and his fiancée, and he pushed the victim in response. He acknowledged using vulgarities, but he refuted accusations that they were racist slurs.

However, the prosecution said that Wong and his fiancée’s actions fatally refuted any claim that Vishnubhai spat on him.