President Pranab Mukherjee suggested on Tuesday that a new framework be built for future Indian relations with Palestine based on economic partnership and people-to-people contacts.
Addressing a gathering of students and academics at Al Quds University here, Mr. Mukherjee said one of the main purposes of his visit was to take Indo-Palestine ties forward through a new framework.
“While we continue to follow our traditional policy on Palestine, we see that the framework for our partnership can be reinforced through three principal pillars — closer political integration; deeper economic engagement and academic collaboration; and wider cultural contacts and people-to-people exchanges.”
The President, who arrived in Ramallah on Monday for the first-ever presidential visit to Palestine, had met Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and other senior leaders of the Palestine Liberation Organization earlier.
Throughout his public events in Jordan and Palestine, Mr. Mukherjee reiterated India’s support for the Palestinian cause, and called for a peaceful settlement of the conflict between Israel and Palestine.
At the university here, he said India’s Palestine approach was “crystallised into a policy with three core dimensions: solidarity with the Palestinian people, support to the Palestinian cause and support for Palestine nation building and capacity building efforts.”
Though the President’s remarks were welcomed with applause at public events, the PLO leadership has expressed concern over India’s Palestine policy. Hasan Zomlot, the Ambassador at Large for Palestine, told presspersons in Ramallah on Monday evening that the ruling BJP’s approach towards Palestine was different from the traditional position.
But Mr. Mukherjee said: “The entire Indian political leadership remains steadfastly committed” to the country’s Palestine policy.
