India deplores Israeli blockade of Gaza

Nishikant Dwivedi

Istanbul, June 8 (PTI) India Tuesday deplored the
continued Israeli blockade of Gaza and said lasting peace and
security in the region could be achieved only through peaceful
dialogue and not through use of force.

"India deplores the recent tragic loss of life and
injuries to people on the boats carrying supplies to Gaza.
There can be no justification for such indiscriminate use of
force, which we condemn," India's Commerce and Industry
Minister Anand Sharma said at the 3rd Summit of Conference on
Interaction and Confidence Building in Asia (CICA) here.
Sharma, who is representing Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh at the summit, said the broader West Asia region remains
of vital importance to India.
"The continued blockade of Gaza and denial of essential
supplies of food and medicines has created a humanitarian
crisis of immense proportion," he said.
He pointed out that the civilian population especially
women and children are the victims of the deadlock.
Sharma emphasised that lasting peace and security in
the region can be achieved only through peaceful dialogue and
not through use of force.
He said Singh could not attend the Summit due to
"pressing domestic commitments".
The Summit is being attended by a number of Heads of
Government, including Russian Prime Minister Valadmir Putin.
Ministers from several Asian countries are also
participating in the three-day Summit which began yesterday.
During the Summit, Iraq and Vietnam became members of
CICA taking the number to 22. India is part of CICA process
since its inception in 1992. PTI NKD