Abbas lands, may seek larger India role in peace process

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.

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.

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