India's External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar to visit Palestine on March 8
Categories: Politics news
The key focus of his visit will be the India-Palestine Joint commission meeting (JCM) which he will co-chair along with his Palestinian counterpart Riad al-Maliki. This is Dr Jaishankar's first-ever visit to Ramallah in his capacity as External Affairs Minister. During the visit, EAM will also call on Palestine's President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had visited the de jure sovereign state on February 10, 2018. Before that, the then Indian President Pranab Mukherjee had paid a visit in October 2015. During President's 2015 visit, India had announced five projects worth $17.79 million, which included a Palestine India Techno Park in Ramallah and Palestine Institute of Diplomacy. The visit to Palestine will see EAM visiting other countries in the region, with an expected in-person West Asian Quad meet on the anvil. The west Asian quad includes UAE, India, Israel, and the US, also known as I2, U2 is expected to hold an in-person meeting in Dubai. This means, US Secretary of state Blinken, Israeli FM will also visit the country. But with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, things could drastically change as worries continue over Russian President Putin's ongoing military offensive. The west Asian quad last met virtually, during EAM's Israel visit last year and since then all sides have appointed a nodal person who will coordinate from each country on various issues, primarily economic. This year, EAM has already visited, Indo Pacific region with visits to Australia, the Philippines, to Europe with visit to Germany and France. But the first visit he made this year was to Qatar, in west Asia.