Appreciate Manmohan Singh’s support for Palestine, says diplomat

New Delhi, Dec 28 (PTI) Abed Elrazeg Abu Jazer, the charge d’affaires of the Palestine embassy in India, on Saturday paid his last respects to former prime minister Manmohan Singh and appreciated his support to Palestine.

Jazer said Singh played a key role in Palestine getting land for its embassy in Delhi.

“We have a history of relationships. He (Singh) met Yasser Arafat in 1991 when he was finance minister, he met (State of Palestine) President Mahmoud Abbas several times throughout his tenure,” the diplomat told reporters outside the Congress headquarters where he paid tribute to the former prime minister on behalf of Palestine.

He also laid a wreath on behalf of the president of the State of Palestine.

“We had good relations with him (Singh). He met our president several times during his tenure. He also provided land for establishing the Palestinian embassy in Delhi, gave support to build the embassy, and also inaugurated it in 2012,” Jazer said.

“We appreciate his support to Palestine, we are remembering his contributions. We stand with the Indian people to show our respect for the leader,” he added.

Abbas visited New Delhi several times during the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government.

In a speech before the UN General Assembly in September 2011, Singh had said that India supported “the Palestinian people’s struggle for a sovereign, independent, viable and united State of Palestine with East Jerusalem as its capital”.