New Delhi: Palestine’s Prime Minister Dr. Mohammad Shtayyeh has sought India’s support for the Palestinian cause at international forums like the United Nations during his meeting with Prime minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the climate summit or COP 26. India is currently a non-permanent member of the United Nations security council that has seen a number of discussions on the Palestine, Israel situation.
Stressing on the “great importance” Palestine attaches to “India who has a growing weight in international politics”, PM Shtayyeh said, “We are ready for all forms of cooperation with India, which serves as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for 2021-2022, and was re-elected to the Human Rights Council for the 2022-2024 term.”
Remember Palestine was miffed with India’s abstention at the United Nations human rights council or UNHRC resolution that called for a probe into violence in Gaza earlier this year. The resolution saw India among the 14 countries abstaining on the issue of the probe. The Palestinian foreign minister Dr. Riad Malki had then written to India’s external affairs minister Dr. S Jaishankar expressing concern over the position taken by India.
According to the information released by the Palestine Prime Minister’s office, during the meeting, Shtayyeh briefed the Indian PM about the “latest political developments in Palestine” and “discussed possible ways to enhance and strengthen joint relations between Palestine and India.” This was the first such meeting between leaders of India and Palestine since PM Modi’s visit to the de jure sovereign state in 2018.
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During that visit, PM Modi and Palestine’s President Mahmoud Abbas had a meeting. That was the first-ever visit by an Indian PM to Palestine and came after the 2015 visit of the then Indian President Pranab Mukherjee. Mukherjee’s visit was also the first-ever visit by an Indian President to Palestine.
PM Shtayyeh also highlighted to Indian PM that they “look forward to a well-established and distinguished Indian role in the Middle East based on the historical perspective of India’s foreign policy, foremost of which is supporting the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination and the establishment of an independent State of Palestine, with Jerusalem as its capital.”
India backs the establishment of a “sovereign, viable and independent State of Palestine” within recognized and mutually agreed borders “living side by side with Israel” in peace and security taking into consideration the legitimate security concerns of Israel. It has been calling on the international community, especially the Middle East quartet comprising of UN, US, EU and Russia to facilitate peace talks between the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority.
The Palestinian PM also lauded India’s “generous financial and technical support” to the Palestinian people and pointed that the “support must be parallel and complementary with the political support of the Palestinian cause and in a manner that guarantees the implementation of international legitimacy resolutions.”
India has been extending various forms of economic assistance, including the construction of Jawaharlal Nehru Library at the Al Azhar University in Gaza city and the Mahatma Gandhi Library-cum-Student Activity Centre at the Palestine Technical College at Deir Al Balah in the Gaza Strip. Two schools were built in Palestine in 2015 through aid provided by India.
New Delhi also enhanced its annual contribution towards the UN Relief and Works Agency in the Near East (UNRWA) from USD 1.25 Million to USD 5 Million in the backdrop of the financial crisis being faced by UNRWA.
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