India stays out of joint statement criticising Israel’s West Bank plans

India stayed out of statement issued at a joint press conference of diplomats from more than 85 countries at the United Nations, criticising Israel’s latest plans to tighten control of territory in the West Bank.

The statement was endorsed by the League of Arab States; the European Union; BRICS founder members Russia, China, Brazil, and South Africa; India’s Quad partners Australia and Japan; and neighbouring countries, including Bangladesh, the Maldives, Mauritius, and Pakistan. It came just ahead of a UN meeting on the issue and the U.S.-led Board of Peace meeting in Washington on Thursday.

India’s decision is a departure from previous positions, particularly its vote at the UN in October 2025 criticising Israel’s illegal annexation of Palestinian territory, and the Delhi Declaration on January 31, 2026 that supported a Palestinian state based on “1967 borders”.

The External Affairs Ministry declined to comment on the reasons for India’s stance.

More than a policy shift, the flip-flop and the decisions to stay away from both the joint statement and the Board of Peace meetings are seen as linked to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s upcoming visit to Israel on February 25-26, observers say.

The joint statement was issued at a “stakeout” on Tuesday, and it was read out by the Palestinian Ambassador to the UN, flanked by diplomats from dozens of countries that co-signed the document.

“We strongly condemn unilateral Israeli decisions and measures aimed at expanding Israel’s unlawful presence in the West Bank,” Palestinian Ambassador to the UN Riyad Mansour said.

“We underline in this regard our strong opposition to any form of annexation,” Mr. Mansour said, adding that the statement rejected all measures “aimed at altering the demographic composition, character and status of the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem”.

Over the past few months, following the ceasefire in Gaza, the Israeli Knesset has passed a number of plans to tighten its control over land in the Palestinian West Bank’s “A” and “B” Areas, which have been administered by the Palestinian Authority since the Oslo Accords (1993-1995). Among the measures are the removal of restrictions on the acquisition of land by outsiders and the checking of documentation for those currently living on the land, which is seen as a precursor to occupying and annexing the territory, as Israeli settlers have done elsewhere.

“Such measures violate international law, undermine the ongoing efforts for peace and stability in the region, run counter to the Comprehensive Plan and jeopardise the prospect of reaching a peace agreement ending the conflict,” the statement said.

India’s refusal to join the statement signed by many significant states was criticised by diplomats on social media. Former Ambassador to Iran K.C. Singh called it “regrettable that India has chosen Israeli corner so blatantly” and questioned whether the move was also linked to help India’s ties with the U.S.

“Strategic autonomy was meant to expand India’s choices, not shrink its moral vocabulary. If autonomy turns into avoidance of normative positions altogether, it starts looking less like independence and more like hedging,” wrote former Foreign Secretary Nirupama Menon Rao, referring to India’s normal positions on the Israel-Palestine conflict.

On January 31, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar had hosted a meeting of the League of Arab States and met Palestinian Foreign Minister Varsen Aghabekian Shahin. It is unclear whether Mr. Jaishankar discussed Mr. Modi’s upcoming visit to Israel, his first since July 2017, and whether Mr. Modi was also planning a trip to Palestine subsequently as he had in February 2018.

The visit to Israel has been under discussion for some weeks and comes after Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu put off his visit to India last November, reportedly for security reasons. Mr. Modi’s travel to Israel will also come weeks after the release of the “Epstein files” in the U.S., where the late American investor and convicted sex offender Jeffery Epstein had claimed in correspondence with a Qatari interlocutor that Mr. Modi “danced and sang” at the behest of U.S. President Donald Trump (in his previous tenure), an allegation the External Affairs Ministry denied strongly.