News
Indian Prime Minister makes first West Bank visit
Narendra Modi became the first Indian Prime Minister to make an official visit to the Palestinian Authority when he visited for three hours on Saturday.
Modi flew in a Jordanian army helicopter straight from Amman to Ramallah, where he was received by Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah at the Muqata helipad.
At a press conference with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Modi said “Palestine and India enjoy strong, historic relations that have withstood the test of time, and our support for the Palestinian issue has become a fixed element of our foreign policy.”
Abbas thanked India for its support for the Palestinian cause, saying the Palestinians “are relying on India … to contribute to achieving a just peace in our region” because of its position as a world power of great stature and weight. He also rejected recent accusations by Israel and the US claiming the Palestinians have abandoned the peace process over their rejection of the Americans as peace mediators.
Modi and Abbas then visited the tomb of former Palestinian president and PLO chairman Yasser Arafat, where the Indian Prime Minister laid a wreath and became the first Prime Minister to visit the 15 month old museum.
Modi said: “At Abu Ammar’s [Arafat] tomb, I had the opportunity to pay my respects. He was one of the great leaders of our time.”
Palestinian news agency WAFA reported that the two parties signed agreements worth $41.35m to fund multiple Palestinian projects, including a $29m pledge to help construct a hospital in the Bethlehem area.
Last week Abbas’s advisor Nabil Sha’ath told official Palestinian television that Modi’s visit is to reaffirm “our historic alliance” and that growing Israeli-Indian ties “will not be at the expense of the Palestinian people”.
In July, Modi visited Israel for three days as the two countries celebrated 25 years of diplomatic relations. In January 2018, Netanyahu visited India and the two signed nine deals to boost bilateral relations.
Last week, Bala Bhaskar, a joint secretary in the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, told reporters that India sees its ties with Israel and the Palestinians as “exclusive and independent” of each other.