Indian Express
Sign In | Register Now
Newsletter | ePaper
Indian Express >  National Network > 

Abbas lands, may seek larger India role in peace process

Font Size
Shubhajit Roy Posted: Oct 07, 2008 at 2328 hrs IST
Related Stories: Shekhawat takes on Rajnath, lands in Delhi unfazedSC declines to consider plea against LaluI-T reassessment: Maya says not served noticeVVIP aircraft fleet arrives, to be inducted next monthPages from PatilError on terror
New Delhi, October 6: More than a decade after Yasser Arafat’s ‘state’ visit in November 1997, his successor and the President of the Palestinian National Authority Mahmoud Abbas arrived in New Delhi late on Monday night to meet the top political and Government brass — a state visit with complete ceremonial honours — where he is expected to ask for India’s “enhanced role” in the West Asia peace process.

Abbas, who belongs to the Fatah party, is going to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and will hold talks with him. He is expected to make a request “to use New Delhi’s growing influence for giving momentum to the West Asian peace process,” Palestine Embassy sources said.

The Palestine President is also expected to meet top Indian leaders including Congress president Sonia Gandhi, BJP’s Leader of Opposition L K Advani, Vice President Hamid Ansari and Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma.

President Pratibha Patil will be hosting a banquet on Tuesday evening for Abbas, and he will get a ceremonial welcome at Rashtrapati Bhavan. He will also offer a wreath in Rajghat during the day, before laying the foundation stone of the new Palestinian Embassy in Chanakyapuri which is being funded by the Indian Government. He will spend October 8 in Agra, where he will visit the Taj Mahal.

Ads By Google
India’s engagement with West Asia is significant since a series of visits by leaders from the region — including Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad — have taken place in recent months. This also comes at a time when substantive defence cooperation is taking place with Israel.

New Delhi, which has appointed C R Gharekhan as a special envoy to the region, has always extended its support to the Palestinian cause as it shares the perception that the question of Palestine is at the core of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Ads By Google
Post Comments
Message*
Maximum characters allowed     
 
Name* Email ID*
Subject* Country*
TERMS OF USE:
The views, opinions and comments posted are your, and are not endorsed by this website. You shall be solely responsible for the comment posted here. The website reserves the right to delete, reject, or otherwise remove any views, opinions and comments posted or part thereof. You shall ensure that the comment is not inflammatory, abusive, derogatory, defamatory &/or obscene, or contain pornographic matter and/or does not constitute hate mail, or violate privacy of any person (s) or breach confidentiality or otherwise is illegal, immoral or contrary to public policy. Nor should it contain anything infringing copyright &/or intellectual property rights of any person(s).
I agree to the terms of use.
View all Messages [ 0 ]
View all Messages [ 0 ]
Group Websites : Express India | Financial Express | Screen India | Loksatta | Kashmir Live | Biz Publications
Privacy Policy | Feedback | Site MapThe Indian Express Group | Work With Us | Adverise With Us | Contact Us© 2009 Indian Express Newspapers (Mumbai) Ltd. All rights reserved
*Recipient(s) name *
*Recipient(s) e-mail address *
(Separate addresses by commas)
*Your Name *
*Your e-mail address *
Select your Country
Comments(optional)

The name(s) and e-mail address(es) you provide will
not be used for any purpose other than to inform the
recipient(s) of your identity. (*mandatory field)
 
Close