India regrets Palestinian ambassador’s presence at a rally sponsored by Mumbai terror attack mastermind
New Delhi: Palestinian ambassador to Pakistan Walid Abu Ali has been recalled for attending a rally organised by JuD chief and Mumbai terror attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed, Palestinian envoy to India Adnan Abu Al Haija said Saturday.
Asserting that Ali’s action was not ‘‘acceptable’’ given the close and friendly ties between India and Palestine, the top envoy told PTI that Ali has been given a couple of days to pack and return from Islamabad and asked to report to Ramallah.
‘‘The Palestine government has told Ali that he was not anymore its envoy to Pakistan,’’ Haija said.
Ali reportedly attended the rally organised by the Difah-e-Pakistan Council in Liaquat Bagh in Rawalpindi Friday following which India issued a strong demarche on the matter.
Difah-e-Pakistan Council is an association of religious and extremist groups in Pakistan headed by Saeed.
India reacted with anger after photos of the Palestinian ambassador to Pakistan sharing the stage with Saeed and addressing the rally at Liaqat Bagh in Rawalpindi were circulated on social media.
“Palestine is part of the world community and it is committed to fighting terrorism. This shouldn’t have happened,” Haija added. The official said a formal statement from the Palestinian foreign ministry was expected later in the day.
Indian officials are also looking into reports that Iran’s envoy to Pakistan attended an event organised by the DPC December 14. The Palestinian envoy, too, was present at the event.
India was irked by the envoy’s presence at the DPC rally because it came less than 10 days after it joined 127 other members of the United Nations to back a resolution criticising US President Donald Trump’s decision to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. The countries disregarded Trump’s threat to cut aid to countries that voted for the resolution.
India and Palestine are also discussing a possible visit to Ramallah by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in February – seen by some here as a conciliatory gesture in connection with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to India in January. If Modi’s visit goes ahead, it will be his first to Palestine.
India formally conveyed its concern about Walid Ali’s “association with terrorist Hafiz Saeed, who is proscribed by the United Nations”, to the Palestinian ambassador in New Delhi and to the minister of foreign affairs in Ramallah in the form of a strongly worded demarche.
A statement issued by the external affairs ministry said the Palestinian side “conveyed deep regrets over the incident and assured the government of India that they are taking serious cognisance of their ambassador’s presence” at the rally.
The Palestinian side also conveyed that it “highly values its relationship with India and stands with us in the war against terrorism, and will not engage with those who commit acts of terror against India”.
PNN