As Palestinians make a vigorous push for statehood, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday expressed India's "steadfast" support for their struggle for a sovereign, independent and united state of Palestine.Singh said India looked forward to welcoming Palestine as an "equal" member of the United Nations where the US has threatened to veto any resolution seeking full UN membership for it. He also spoke about the crisis in the world economy and what India could do to help. ( Read: Growing India can help the world economy, says Prime Minister Hours before Singh made the remarks on the Palestine issue in his address at the UN General Assembly, Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai said there was no change in India's "well-established" position on Palestinian statehood, which it recognised way back in 1988.In his address at the UN General Assembly Singh said, "India is steadfast in its support for the Palestinian people's struggle for a sovereign, independent, viable and united state of Palestine with East Jerusalem as its capital, living within secure and recognizable borders side by side and at peace with Israel. We look forward to welcoming Palestine as an equal member of the United Nations."The Prime Minister also said the unresolved Palestinian question was a source of great instability and violence.UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon has forwarded the Palestinian application for recognition of statehood to the President of the Security Council.The US has vowed to veto the unilateral Palestinian bid at the Security Council, saying talks between Israel and the Palestinians are the only real path to peace and statehood.For the Palestinians, full membership depends on nine approved votes in the 15-member Security Council as well as concurrence of the five permanent members. India is among the non-permanent members.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas met UN Secretary General just before he addressed the UN General Assembly on Friday and submitted his application for Palestine to be admitted as a full member of the world body on the basis of the June 4, 1967 borders with Jerusalem as its capital.