New Delhi: India will once again undertake the tight-rope walk between Israel and Palestine, without seeking to ruffle feathers in either the Jewish State or the Arab world. Ahead of a likely visit by PM Narendra Modi to Israel and Palestine later this year, the Government on Tuesday announced that External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj would visit Palestine and Israel. Ms Swaraj will visit Palestine first on January 17 followed by Israel on January 17 and 18. The visit follows that of President Pranab Mukherjee in October last year. Though it has strategic defence ties with Israel, India—in the current tenure of the Modi Government—has been at pains to point out that its support to the Palestinian cause remains. Significantly, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Tuesday said in New Delhi that India’s relations with Israel “are independent to its relations with any country in the region”.
The MEA also pointed out that Palestine would be the first destination in the first visit to the west Asian region by the minister and that this “in itself reflects the importance India holds for Palestine in its engagement with the countries of the region”.
