Ramallah
\nIndia\u2019s improved relations with Israel could actually benefit Palestine, experts said here, underlining that the Palestinian leadership saw an opportunity in Prime Minister Narendra Modi\u2019s visit in reviving the peace process with Israel.<\/p>\n
Modi, the first Indian Prime Minister to visit Palestine, is reaching Ramallah amid heightened tensions in the region after US President Donald Trump recognised Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.<\/p>\n
India has consistently voted in favour of resolutions supporting the Palestinian cause at international forums, an issue that has bothered strategic partner Israel.<\/p>\n
Ahmad Majdalani, a Palestine Liberation Organisation Executive Committee member, said improved relations between Israel and India could help the Palestinians.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe growing ties between them could be positive, because now India has more leverage with Israel and can press it in our favour,\u201d Majdalani was quoted as saying by The Jerusalem Post.<\/p>\n
In discussions with several officials in Ramallah, who spoke on conditions of anonymity, it appears that the Palestinian leadership sees in the Indian Prime Minister\u2019s visit an opportunity to seek his assistance in pushing forward the deadlocked peace process.<\/p>\n
\u201cIndia today enjoys wider acceptance in the global community. The recent participation of ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) leaders in its Republic Day function is a clear demonstration of its enhanced status. Its membership in the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) and visibility at several leading international forums, clearly shows that it is today a global player,\u201d an official said.<\/p>\n
Another official pointed at the \u201cmoral standing\u201d India enjoys in the international community which can be put to good use.<\/p>\n
The hype around India\u2019s strategic ties with Israel and the bonhomie around Modi\u2019s visit to Israel and its Prime Minister\u2019s visit to India also do not seem to perturb the Palestinians.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell even Jordan and Egypt have full diplomatic relations with Israel so why can\u2019t India have,\u201d said Ayman, a university student.<\/p>\n
His friends seem to back the same contention displaying a great degree of acquaintance of international politics. Some appreciated India\u2019s support for the Palestinians at the UN despite all the publicity around the personal chemistry between Modi and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netnayahu.<\/p>\n
When asked about India\u2019s growing engagement with Israel, President Mahmoud Abbas himself emphaticlally asserted that \u201cany state has the right to establish relations with other countries\u201d.<\/p>\n
The Indian Prime Minister would be skipping Israel during his tour of the Middle East in a clear message that New Delhi is de-hyphenating its ties with Israel and Palestine.<\/p>\n
Modi had visited Israel last year in July in a standalone visit that had led to many analysts questioning the future of the Indo-Palestine ties.<\/p>\n
The question that arises out of Abbas\u2019 effort is if Israel would accept a multilateral forum of the sort being promoted by him to seek negotiated peace. Israel has made it clear that it will only work under a US-led peace process.<\/p>\n
India has also consistently voted in favour of the Palestinians at all international forums and Netanyahu clearly expressed his \u201cdisappointment\u201d at New Delhi\u2019s recent vote at the UN General Assembly where 128 nations rejected US\u2019 unilateral declaration of Jerusalem as Israel\u2019s capital.<\/p>\n
As Modi embarks on the three-hour hectic trip to Palestine on Saturday, he kickstarts his engagement by laying a wreath at the Mausoleum of iconic Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.<\/p>\n
The Israeli press has highlighted the event with some reports expressing disappointment over the gesture. Many Israelis see Arafat responsible for the killing of several innocent civilians and stoking violence in the region.<\/p>\n
Modi will be accompanied by his Palestinian counterpart Rami Hamdallah during the ceremony.<\/p>\n
The Mausoleum of Yasser Arafat was unveiled on November 10, 2007 and is located adjacent to the Palestinian Presidential compound, also known as Muqata\u2019a here.<\/p>\n
After paying homage to Arafat, the Prime Mminister will take a short tour accompanied by Hamdallah of the Yasser Arafat Museum located adjacent to the Mausoleum.<\/p>\n
He will spend some 20 minutes touring the 15-month-old Yasser Arafat Museum, which chronicles the life of the former Palestinian leader.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ramallah India\u2019s improved relations with Israel could actually benefit Palestine, experts said here, underlining that the Palestinian leadership saw an opportunity in Prime Minister Narendra Modi\u2019s visit in reviving the peace process with Israel. Modi, the first Indian Prime Minister to visit Palestine, is reaching Ramallah amid heightened tensions in the region after US President […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21523,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[312],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21522","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-india"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21522","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21522"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21522\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21524,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21522\/revisions\/21524"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21523"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21522"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21522"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21522"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}