Financial Express | Donald Trump moves US embassy to Jerusalem: India’s position on Palestine is independent, consistent, says MEA

After US President Donald Trump recognised Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said India’s position on Palestine will be ‘independent’ and ‘constant’. The spokesperson also said that India’s views and interests are not determined by any other country. The ANI reported that the spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said, “India’s position on Palestine is independent and consistent. It is shaped by our views and interests, and not determined by any third country.”

President Donald Trump recognised Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and moved the US embassy there on Wednesday. While Trump had long pledged to move the embassy, the Republican president’s conservative Christian advisers repeatedly pressed the case in regular meetings at the White House, the conservative activists said.

“I have no doubt that evangelicals played a meaningful role in this decision,” said Johnnie Moore, a California pastor who serves as a spokesman for a council of leading evangelicals that advises the White House. He added, “I don’t believe it would have happened without them.”

After the move by the US President, Eight countries, on Thursday, called for an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council after the United States said it recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Bolivia, Egypt, France, Italy, Senegal, Sweden, the United Kingdom and Uruguay want a meeting by the end of the week, the Swedish mission to the 15-member body said.

Japan, which currently holds the council’s rotating presidency, had not set a time for the meeting by Wednesday afternoon.

One of Donald Trump’s closest allies in the Middle East, the Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi urged the US president to be cautious about the move its Israel embassy to Jerusalem.

Earlier on the occasion of the UN International Day of Solidarity, Prime Minister Narendra Modi hoped for an early resumption of dialogue between the Palestinian and Israeli sides to move towards finding a comprehensive negotiates resolution. In a message to the Palestinian People, Modi reiterated India’s steadfast support for the Palestinian cause.

“India hopes for an early resumption of dialogue between the Palestinian and Israeli sides to move towards finding a comprehensive negotiated resolution,” Modi said. Every year after 1979, November 29 is celebrated as International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. A special meeting is held at the UN headquarters here. “We hope for early realisation of a sovereign, independent, united and viable Palestine co-existing peacefully with Israel,” Modi said in his message.