Where was the International Conference for Peace talks between Israel and Palestine held in 2017?

The correct answer is Paris. France hosted the Paris Peace Conference on 15 January 2017, attended by around 70 countries and international organisations. It reaffirmed support for a two-state solution based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed land swaps. Neither Israel nor the Palestinian leadership attended, so it was an international push for a settlement rather than direct bilateral talks.

Why the others are wrong:

• Geneva: Switzerland hosts many UN bodies and the 1954 Geneva Conference on Indochina and Korea, but not this 2017 meeting.
• Washington: The US has been the central mediator in West Asia, including the 2020 'Peace to Prosperity' plan, but it did not host this conference, and the US stayed away from it.
• Berlin: Germany is an important European partner, but it was not the venue.

Core concept: the two-state solution and the role of external actors in West Asia. For Mains GS-II, link this to India's balanced West Asia policy and its ties with both Israel and Palestine.

Trap: candidates pick Washington because the US is associated with most peace efforts. Remember that the 2017 meeting was a French initiative, and the US was not part of it.