While India will accept Palestine's regret and recall of its ambassador over this issue, there will be pressure on New Delhi now on its Palestine policy

by Yusuf Unjhawala 

Palestinian Ambassador to Pakistan Walid Abu Ali sharing the stage at a rally in Rawalpindi with Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) chief and 26/11Mumbai terror attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed has created a furore in India. The Ministry of External Affairs has issued a demarche to the Palestinian Ambassador to India Adnan Mohammad Jaber Abualhayjaa.

The Palestinians have expressed regret and recalled Abu Ali from Pakistan. The Palestinian Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying that his sharing a platform with Saeed was an "unintended mistake but not justified". The long statement was delved more into the Palestinian cause, in which it talked about a "mass rally in solidarity with Jerusalem" as it accepted its mistake.

It went on to thank India for its support in its "tireless effort to end Israeli occupation and establishment of an independent State of Palestine on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital." It also thanked India for voting against the US' recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital at the UN General Assembly on December 21, which actually rubs it in for India considering the event that has followed in Rawalpindi.

Abualhayjaa said his counterpart in Pakistan did not know about Saeed's identity. This doesn't cut ice. One would seriously doubt Abu Ali's ignorance of a UN-declared terrorist and the nature of the umbrella of organisations, including the Jamat-ud-Dawa (JuD), that form the Difa-e-Pakistan Council which organised the rally in Rawalpindi. The JuD is the parent organisation of LeT.

This is not the first time that Walid Abu Ali has attended such events. In August 2014, he addressed the 'Palestine Unity Caravan' rally organised by Saeed. He has met him on other occasions. This more than just suggests that Palestinian officials are in touch with proscribed organisations in Pakistan, ones that conduct terror attacks in India. All this while receiving considerable aid from India along with support for its cause. Pakistan has always tried to hyphenate Kashmir with Palestine over the years. Earlier this month, during his meeting with the Abu Ali, Pakistan army chief General Qamar Bajwa said, "Pakistan views the unresolved Palestine issue at par with the Kashmir issue."

What has riled India more is that this comes just days after India voted against Israel and the US at the UN General Assembly. India and Israel share very close defence relations. PM Narendra Modi became the first Indian PM to visit Israel earlier this year. Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to visit India next month. In voting against Israel, Modi also went against his core support base that is sympathetic to Israel.

The rally in Rawalpindi, home to Pakistan Army's General Headquarters, shows Pakistan's continued effort to mainstream and promote terrorists like Saeed, who launched his political party Milli Muslim League and intends to contest elections. Defending Saeed's presence at the rally, Pakistan's Foreign Office said, "Contrary to the impression being created, UN proscription does not place any restrictions on the freedom of expression." It added, "The people and government of Pakistan respect the Palestinian ambassador's active participation in events organised to express solidarity with the people of Palestine." This shows the Pakistan government supported the rally and that it had invited the Palestinian ambassador for the occasion.

While India will accept Palestine's regret and recall of its ambassador over this issue, there will be pressure on New Delhi now on its Palestine policy, and how it votes at the UN on the Palestine issue in the future. All the while continuing to support a two-State solution to resolve the Palestine issue.