India’s Support For Palestine Sends A Strategic Message Beyond Humanitarian Aid
External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said India reiterates its commitment to being a long-standing development partner of Palestine.
Published : July 14, 2026 at 10:10 PM IST
New Delhi: India's announcement of new humanitarian and development projects for Palestine under the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) carries significance far beyond development assistance.
Coming in the aftermath of the US-Israel military campaign against Iran and at a time when Gaza continues to grapple with an unprecedented humanitarian crisis, the move reflects New Delhi’s broader strategy of balancing competing interests in West Asia – deepening strategic ties with Israel, preserving strong partnerships with Arab states, and reaffirming its longstanding support for the Palestinian cause through multilateral institutions.
According to a statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs, Sripriya Ranganathan, Secretary (CPV & OIA), while representing India at the Second Ministerial Meeting of the Palestine Donor Group (PDG) in Brussels on Monday, emphasised that India has been a long-standing partner of the Palestinian people, and reaffirmed India’s continued support to a two-state solution, as well as to Palestine’s membership of the UN.
“She underlined India’s ongoing developmental assistance, including capacity building programmes and humanitarian assistance to the people of Palestine, noting that India’s projects are demand-driven and largely centred on healthcare, education, capacity building, and vocational training,” the statement reads.
“While stating that India is currently engaged in major projects in healthcare, women’s empowerment and institution building in Palestine, she announced several new projects focused on rehabilitation, health, education and vocational training.”
The Ministry further stated that Ranganathan also attended a meeting hosted by Belgium as the incoming Chair of the Advisory Commission of UNRWA, during which she highlighted India’s continued support for the agency and its efforts in Palestine.
Meanwhile, speaking at the launch of India’s campaign for non-permanent membership of the UN Security Council for the period 2028-29 in New York, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that India has also committed to setting up a specialty hospital, an artificial limb fitment centre and a vocational training institute for Palestine.
“This is in line with our longstanding support for a two-state solution,” Jaishankar said.
Addressing a regular media briefing here on Tuesday, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that, during the meeting in Brussels, India reiterated its commitment to being a long-standing development partner of Palestine.
“We also want to do more for the Palestinian people through both bilaterally, through our development projects, as also through UNRWA,” Jaiswal said.
“We have been contributing to UNRWA and we will continue to do that as well. This particular meeting was organised by the European Commission and the Palestinian Authority.”
Rather than representing a shift in India’s policy, the announcements, both in Brussels and in New York, reinforce New Delhi’s long-standing approach of maintaining strategic partnerships with Israel while simultaneously supporting the Palestinian cause through development assistance and backing a two-state solution.
India has consistently supported Palestinian self-determination since before the establishment of Israel. Although diplomatic relations with Israel have deepened significantly since the 1990s – especially in defence, agriculture, cyber security and technology - India has never officially abandoned its support for the two-state policy.
Ranganathan’s statement in Brussels reaffirmed three long-standing pillars of Indian policy: support for a negotiated two-state solution, support for Palestine’s membership of the UN, and continued developmental and humanitarian assistance. The announcement of new projects in healthcare, education, rehabilitation, vocational training and women’s empowerment demonstrates policy continuity rather than policy change.
The announcement comes at an exceptionally sensitive moment.
The US-Israel military campaign against Iran fundamentally altered West Asia’s strategic environment. It has intensified concerns across the Global South about the humanitarian costs of prolonged regional conflicts.
Against this backdrop, India’s renewed engagement with UNRWA sends several diplomatic messages.
India has expanded defence and strategic cooperation with Israel over the past decade.
However, by announcing additional assistance for Palestinians amid the regional conflict, New Delhi demonstrated that strategic ties with Israel do not imply abandoning Palestinian humanitarian concerns.
New Delhi has indicated that India continues to distinguish between bilateral strategic partnerships and humanitarian obligations. This reflects India’s broader doctrine of maintaining issue-based partnerships rather than bloc politics.
UNRWA has become one of the most politically contested UN agencies.
Israel has repeatedly accused sections of UNRWA personnel of links with Hamas and has sought to curtail the agency’s operations. Several Western countries temporarily suspended funding during investigations into these allegations before many resumed contributions after reviews and additional oversight measures.
By reiterating support for UNRWA, India has signalled confidence in multilateral humanitarian mechanisms while avoiding endorsement of either side’s political narrative.
This aligns with India’s broader foreign policy emphasis on strengthening multilateral institutions rather than replacing them.
Since assuming the G20 Presidency in 2023, India has increasingly projected itself as the ‘Voice of the Global South’. That positioning requires New Delhi to demonstrate concern for humanitarian crises affecting developing countries.
Palestine remains one of the most symbolically important causes across the Arab world, Africa, much of Asia, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), and the Non-Aligned Movement.
Continued assistance through UNRWA strengthens India’s credibility among developing nations that expect major emerging powers to support humanitarian relief irrespective of geopolitical alignments.
According to Talmiz Ahmad, former Indian Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Oman and Saudi Arabia, India’s decision to continue providing aid to Palestine is in response to pervasive criticism that New Delhi has opted for a pro-Israel posture.
“You know, many people had said that India has chosen the wrong side of history,” Ahmad told ETV Bharat. “And so, I think this is a response to those criticisms.”
He said that the UNRWA is controversial only for Israel.
“But it is a very respected UN body with an excellent record in regard to humanitarian assistance,” Ahmad said. “This is also a recovery of our position with regard to the Palestine issue.”
He said that India should follow up its announcement with very clear positions.
“This should not become a single, one-time gesture,” he said. “There should be a long-term vision supported by a well-conceived strategy.”
With West Asia in complete disarray, Ahmad said that India needs to recover a lot of ground.
“I’m not pretending that the situation has settled,” he said. “But what is India’s core and long-term interest? Peace and stability in the region. What is the core problem in this regard? The Palestine issue. Due to Israel’s refusal to address the Palestine issue, you have so much instability and conflict repeatedly.”
He said that India has so far approached the entire West Asian region separately with each country.
“We must abandon that approach,” Ahmad stated. “We must now have an approach which is collective in character. Palestine is the beginning. This is the start of a course correction.”
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