India told the Arab League on Monday that its policy on the Palestinian cause remained “unchanged” and its support to the people of Palestine would be “undiluted”.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj met Arab League Secretary-General Nabil El Araby here. “We reiterated our support to the Palestinian cause. We said there is no change in India’s position. The President of India will visit Palestine, Israel and Jordan together, and our basic support for the Palestinian cause will remain undiluted in future,” Anil Wadhwa, Secretary (East) in the Ministry of External Affairs, who is accompanying Ms. Swaraj, told PTI.
Ms. Swaraj is here on the first leg of her tour of Egypt and Germany.
On July 3, India for the first time abstained from voting on an anti-Israel resolution at the UN Human Rights Council. The resolution called for accountability from the parties to last year’s conflict in Gaza that killed over 2, 000 people and justice for “all violations of international law in the occupied Palestinian territory.” India later said its abstention was on account of a “direct action-oriented reference made in the resolution to the International Criminal Court,” of which it is not a member.
Mr. Wadhwa said both leaders also discussed the upcoming meeting of the Arab League and India in Manama in December. “It will be a ministerial meeting. India has proposed December 20 for the meeting. The date will be confirmed in September,” he said.
