New Delhi
24 June 2007
order to pave the way for meeting the legitimate aspirations of the people of Palestine,
according to Egyptian Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs Shawky Ismail.
Mr Ismail told this newspaper, "India reiterated her consistent support for the Palestinian
cause and called for early resumption of negotiations under the Middle East peace
process and both sides agreed that the use of excessive force and violence would not
lead to peace in the region, which requires sustained and substantial negotiations
among the parties."
Mr Ismail paid an official visit to India from June 21 to 24 to co-chair the seventh round of
the political consultations between the two countries. The next round will take place in
Egypt.
For its part, New Delhi has said that the situation in Palestine had become complex. It
hoped that the situation would be resolved soon for a return to normalcy. The
spokesman of the Ministry of External Affairs has said, "The need of the hour was to
work towards meeting the legitimate aspirations of all the people of Palestine, including
their right to live in peace with their neighbours, within secure and recognised
international borders."
The spokesman added, "While referring to the newly constituted government of the
Palestine National Authority under the leadership of President Abu Mazen, hope was
expressed that it would achieve the goal of helping a peaceful and negotiated resolution
of all problems, including the Palestine-Israel conflict using the elements of the
Roadmap and the Arab Peace Initiative."
On the bilateral side, Mr Ismail said that India and Egypt were discussing draft
agreements on avoidance of double taxation, protection of trade and investment,
consular issues, and promotion of maritime transportation. Cooperation in information
technology and energy were also on the agenda.
Mr Ismail called on Minister of External Affairs Pranab Mukherjee. On the occasion he
handed over a written message from Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs Ahmed Aboul
Gheit inviting Mr Mukherjee to Egypt. Mr Ismail also met with Minister of State of
External Affairs E Ahamed and Ambassador CR Gharekhan, Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh's Special Envoy for West Asia.
Both sides exchanged views and assessments on other regional issues, like Iraq,
Darfur in Sudan, Somalia and the developments in South Asia. Global issues like the
reform of the United Nations, terrorism, the Organisation of Islamic Conference and the
"projected orientation" of Non Aligned Movement (NAM) also came up for discussion.
Egypt will succeed Cuba as the chair of NAM in 2009.
No comments:
Post a Comment