It remains uncertain whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be travelling to Palestine when he goes to Israel, possibly in June.
If Modi doesn’t travel to Palestine it will be a break from the past; senior leaders who have so far travelled to the region have had both Israel and Palestine in their itinerary.
The last two high-profile visits to the region under Modi’s premiership – President Pranab Mukherjee in October 2015 and external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj in January 2016 – had visited the two countries.
Mukherjee even became the first Indian president to visit Israel on his trip.
According to sources, the visit to Israel as a stand-alone one will be more befitting to mark the 25th year of the two countries’ diplomatic ties.
Read | PM Modi has done more foreign trips in 2 years than Vajpayee did in 5
Meanwhile, there is also a possibility of India hosting Palestine president Mahmoud Abbas before Modi visits Israel. But a source said the visit has not been “locked yet.”
Indian officials have been insisting that there is no change in the country’s position on the Palestine question; it was the Modi government which hosted the first ever India-Palestine joint commission, and New Delhi believes in two-state solution to the conflict.
{{/usCountry}}Indian officials have been insisting that there is no change in the country’s position on the Palestine question; it was the Modi government which hosted the first ever India-Palestine joint commission, and New Delhi believes in two-state solution to the conflict.
{{/usCountry}}Though India remains wary of how the Arab world will see its ties with Israel, the Modi government has been more open about its ties with the Jewish state.