India and Pakistan, which fired rockets and missiles at each other in May this year, hardly agree with each other on international issues.
So it was rare when both nuclear-armed neighbours issued statements on Wednesday condemning Israel’s killing of journalists in Gaza as "heinous" and "shocking".
Islamabad and New Delhi issued separate press releases in response to Israel’s Monday attack on the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, which killed at least 47 Palestinians, including six journalists, triggering global outcry.
The Pakistani Foreign Ministry described the attack as “unconscionable and heinous”, and said that the continued targeting of civilians and journalists represented a grave violation of international human rights and humanitarian law, as well as freedom of the press.
Pakistan reiterated its call on the international community to “hold Israel accountable for such heinous crimes and to take concrete steps towards ending Israel’s impunity”, the statement said.
India also said the killing of journalists in Gaza was “shocking and deeply regrettable”, condemning the loss of civilian lives in the conflict.
“The killing of journalists is shocking and deeply regrettable. India has always condemned loss of civilian lives in conflict,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal said in a statement.
He added: “We understand that the Israeli authorities have already instituted an investigation.”
Critics argue that India, under its Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has grown closer to Israel, despite the country's historical support for Palestinians and a two-state solution.
Modi was also among the first leaders to condemn Hamas's attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. His tweet, which labelled Hamas as "terrorists", marked a shift from India's policy that has not officially designated the Palestinian resistance group as a terrorist organisation.
The new fatalities among the media personnel in Gaza brought the number of Palestinian journalists killed in Israeli attacks since October 2023 to 246.
Israel has killed more journalists in two years than in any conflict around the world in recent times.
