Through Domestic Eyes: Chinese and Indian Responses to the Israel-Hamas Conflict

092 – 28 December 2023 The authors' views are their own and do not represent the official position of the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies of the S. [...] As expected, Xi spoke in general terms, including stating the obvious, which was to “stop the fighting as soon as possible, prevent the conflict from spreading or even getting out of control and causing a severe humanitarian crisis.” Unsurprisingly, Beijing’s reluctance to be more explicit about its position, including not expressing solidarity with Israel in the early weeks of the conflict, was v. [...] While we do not think China’s Middle Eastern strategy is expressly intended to trap the United States in the region, the fact that China’s rise and dominance within Asia over the past two decades has been in part due to the US strategic focus on the Middle East as it pursued its “war on terror” means that protracted conflict in the Middle East today that consumes America’s attention would generall. [...] India is also a part of the I2U2 partnership along with Israel, the United States, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and of the proposed India– Middle East–Europe Economic Corridor (IMEEC) that is intended to run from India to Greece through the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Israel. [...] New Delhi has not designated the group as a terrorist organisation, with the external affairs ministry stressing that the designation was a “legal matter.” At the same time, India’s long-standing position on the Palestine issue was reiterated and the government stated that “India has always advocated the resumption of direct negotiations towards establishing a sovereign, independent, and viable st.