NEW DELHI: Making it clear that it was unwavering in its support on the Palestine issue, India on Tuesday strongly backed a political solution to the problem through sustained dialogue and expressed the hope for an early resumption of talks between Palestine and Israel. Prime Minister Narendra Modi reaffirmed India’s stand after a meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who had on Monday sought India’s help to solve the Palestine issue with Israel.
After the talks, India and Palestine signed five agreements including on cooperation in agriculture, IT and electronics, health and youth affairs and sports.
“We had extensive exchange of views on the situation in West Asia and the Middle East peace process,” he said while jointly addressing the media with Abbas following delegation-level talks here.
“We agreed that the challenges in West Asia must be addressed through sustained political dialogue and peaceful means,” he said.
“India hopes for early resumption of talks between Palestinian and Israeli sides to move towards finding a comprehensive resolution.”
On Monday, addressing a gathering at the India Islamic Cultural Centre here, Abbas said that he would seek the help of Modi’s good offices in reaching a solution to the Palestinian issue which would help in the fight against terrorism in that part of the world. Modi said on Tuesday that India has been “unwavering in its support of the Palestinian cause”.
“And, we hope to see the realisation of a sovereign, independent, united and viable Palestine, co-existing peacefully with Israel,” he said, ahead of his visit to Israel scheduled for July this year. “We will continue to support the development and capacity-building efforts of Palestine,” he said.
The Prime Minister said the five agreements signed following Tuesday’s talks “are reaffirmation of our intent to strengthen cooperation in this direction”. Modi also referred to a flagship techno-park project India was undertaking in Ramallah and said particular emphasis was being laid on the areas of IT, youth and skills development. — IANS
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