India to change policy of support to Palestinians at UN

India is looking at altering its long time support for the Palestinian cause at the United Nations by turning supporting vote to abstention, after the Bharatiya Janata Party government has sought closer ties with Israel, said local daily The Hindu online Sunday.

The report quoted two sources within the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi as saying that the change was under consideration.

"Like other foreign policy issues, the Modi government is looking at India's voting record at the United Nations on the Palestinian issue," the report quoted a government source as saying.

The change only needs an administrative nod rather than an approval by Parliament, it quoted another source as saying.

India has voted always for the Palestinians in resolutions concerned with Israeli-Palestinian conflict over the past several decades, mainly due to its traditional role in the non-aligned movement which backs the Palestinians.

Despite the growing defense and diplomatic relations with Israel, the former government of Congress-led United Progressive Alliance refused to change India's support to the Palestinians. India's stance at the UN has been an irritant in India-Israeli relations as a consequence, said the report.

A senior Israeli interlocutor told the visiting Indian external affairs minister some time ago that New Delhi treated Tel Aviv like a "mistress" because it was keeping the bilateral relationship away from public gaze, said the report.

Modi met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when he visited the United Nations headquarters in New York in late September.

The two countries have since agreed to establish closer ties in the fields of anti-terrorism, defense and security in general.

《India to change policy of support to Palestinians at UN》永久阅读地址: http://91kudian.com/yingyu/17865/