Almost all nations that identify as belonging to the Global South have supported South Africa’s request for the International Court of Justice to issue an injunction compelling Israel to halt its military campaign and adhere to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. India has been a bystander in this instance.
By keeping quiet over the Israeli bombardment of Gaza, New Delhi has cleverly chosen to keep its options open. However, weeks after abstaining from voting on a resolution that called for an immediate humanitarian truce in Gaza, India voted against Israel in the UN General Assembly (UNGA) last month regarding the Israel-Hamas war.
Source: The Hindu
During a period when the United States and Canada have disregarded India’s strategic proximity and unjustly singled it out in the Gurpatwant Singh Pannun and Hardeep Singh Nijjar cases, respectively, India appears to have given up on advocating for itself in response to what is obviously an excessive military response by Israel.
Even though India is not one of the member nations of the International Criminal Court, which was established by the “victors” of the Cold War, it does have an Indian judge on its bench in the form of Justice Dalveer Bhandari.
Source: Al Jazeera English
There have previously been three other Indian judges on the ICJ bench. The ICJ’s 2019 decision, which spared suspected Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav from execution in Pakistan, increased New Delhi’s confidence in this global court. While India and Israel enjoy a positive relationship, in the grand scheme of things, this shouldn’t stop India from being the voice of reason and endorsing South Africa’s appeal.
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