During his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the COP 26 climate summit, Palestine’s Prime Minister Dr Mohammad Shtayyeh solicited India’s support for the Palestinian cause at international forums such as the United Nations. India is a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, having had several talks over the Palestine-Israel conflict.
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Remember that Palestine was enraged by India’s vote against a resolution calling for an investigation into the bloodshed in Gaza earlier this year at the United Nations Human Rights Council, or UNHRC. India was one of 14 countries that voted no on the inquiry in the resolution. Dr Riad Malki, the Palestinian foreign minister, wrote to India’s external affairs minister, Dr S Jaishankar, expressing his displeasure with India’s stance. Shtayyeh informed the Indian PM on the “recent political events in Palestine” and “discussed alternative methods to deepen and strengthen collaborative cooperation between Palestine and India,” according to information issued by the Palestine Prime Minister’s office.
PM Modi and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met during that visit. That was the first visit to Palestine by an Indian Prime Minister, following the visit of then-Indian President Pranab Mukherjee in 2015. India supports the creation of a “sovereign, viable, and independent State of Palestine” within internationally recognised and mutually accepted boundaries, “living side by side with Israel” in peace and security while respecting Israel’s legitimate security concerns.
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It has urged the international community, particularly the Middle East Quartet of the United Nations, the United States, the European Union, and Russia, to help support peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. The Palestinian Prime Minister also praised India’s “generous financial and technical assistance” to the Palestinian people, emphasising that such assistance “must be parallel and complementary to political support for the Palestinian cause, and in a way that ensures the implementation of international legitimacy resolutions.
