Palestine says sorry to India for presence of its Pakistan envoy at Hafiz Saeed rally

india

Updated: Dec 30, 2017 17:12 IST

Palestinian authorities have expressed regret after India reacted with anger at the presence of Palestine’s envoy to Pakistan at a rally organised by Mumbai terror attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed.

Ambassador Walid Abu Ali joined the stage with the Lashkar-e-Taiba founder at an event organised by jihadi groups on Friday, just days after New Delhi backed a United Nations General Assembly resolution that denounced Washington’s decision to recognise Jerusalem as the Israeli capital. The rally in Rawalpindi was organised to oppose the US move.

“The Palestinian side has conveyed deep regrets over the incident and assured the Government of India that they are taking serious cognizance of their Ambassador’s presence at this event,” the external affairs ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

“They have said they will deal with this matter appropriately. It was also conveyed that Palestine 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,” the statement added. “We take note of the assurances given by the Palestine side.”

The Palestinians reacted after a terse statement issued on Friday night by external affairs ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar , saying: “We are taking up the matter strongly with the Palestinian ambassador in New Delhi and with the Palestinian authorities.”

Photos of the the Palestinian envoy with Saeed and addressing the rally organised by the Difa-e-Pakistan Council at Liaqat Bagh had gone viral on social media on Friday.

India was particularly incensed as the development came less than 10 days after India joined 127 other members of the UN 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.