Modi leaves for Palestine; likely to exchange MoUs

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that his visit to Ramallah on Saturday would reaffirm India's support to "Palestinian people and development of Palestine".

Prime Minister on Friday left New Delhi to visit to Palestine, United Arab Emirates and Oman.

He will   have an overnight stopover in Amman and will leave for Ramallah by a helicopter on Saturday. During his stopover in Amman, he will call on King of Jordan, Abdullah II, who incidentally had just returned from a visit to Pakistan.

Modi's visit is going to be the first visit by a Prime Minister of India to Palestine. He will pay homage to late Yasser Arafat, the first president of Palestinian National Authority, at his mausoleum in Ramallah. He will later hold talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

"I am looking forward to my discussions with President Mahmoud Abbas and reaffirming our support for the Palestinian people and the development of Palestine," Modi said shortly before his departure from New Delhi. His visit to Palestine comes less than a year after he became the first Prime Minister of India to visit Israel. It also comes less than a month after he hosted Israeli Prime Minister to New Delhi and the capital of his home-state, Ahmedabad.

Prime Minister had not visited Palestine during his maiden tour to Israel in July 2017. It was aimed at de-hyphenating India's relations with Israel from that with Palestine.

Modi chose Amman, but not Jerusalem as a transit for his visit to Ramallah – ostensibly in keeping with his government's policy of de-linking its ties with Palestine and Israel.

President Pranab Mukherjee's visit to Palestine in October 2015 had been the first by a Head of the State of India. He had travelled to Palestine after visiting Israel.

New Delhi had announced five more projects during his visit to Ramallah, with India committing assistance worth $ 17.79 million for Palestine. New Delhi's commitment had included a $ 12 million for Palestine India Techno Park and $ 4.5 million for Palestine Institute of Diplomacy – both in Ramallah – and $ 1 million for India-Palestine Centre of Excellence in Information and Communication Technology in Gaza.

Prime Minister and Palestinian President are likely to witness exchange of some Memorandums of Understanding with India committing further support to Palestine's infrastructure development and nation-building efforts, B Bala Bhaskar, Joint Secretary (West Asia and North Africa) at the Ministry of External Affairs, said.

Modi is likely to convey to Abbas in Ramallah that India remains in favour of "early resumption of talks between Palestinian and Israeli sides to move towards finding a comprehensive resolution". He will also reiterate New Delhi's position that the peace-process should result in a "sovereign, independent, united and viable Palestine, co-existing peacefully with Israel".

Bhaskar said that Prime Minister would convey to the Palestine President that India had been steadfastly supporting the cause of Palestine at the United Nations and other international forums and the prime minister's visit to Ramallah would reaffirm New Delhi's commitment to continue to do so.

India's assurance to Palestine of continued support in international fora will be significant as the Palestine Liberation Organization's executive committee last week decided to demand that the UN Security Council recognise the State of Palestine within the 1967 borders with Jerusalem as its capital.

India in December 2017 voted at the United Nations General Assembly in favour of a resolution asking the United States to withdraw President Donald Trump's recent decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. India itself however stopped seeking East Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine.

New Delhi earlier voted in favour of Palestine's admission to Interpol as a full member.