Indo-Arab League to invite Modi for conference on Palestine

The Indo-Arab League, a Hyderabad-based group working for good relations between India and the Arab world, plans to invite Prime Minister Narendra Modi for an international conference on Palestine proposed to be held here in November.

Leaders of the organisation told reporters Saturday that they will meet Modi to invite him to the meeting to present the views of his government on the Palestine issue.

League chairman Syed Vicaruddin said they would also invite Palestine President Mahmoud Abbas for the meeting.

Top political leaders of the country and all ambassadors of Arab countries will address this biggest conference on Palestine, said Vicaruddin, who is also the editor-in-chief of Urdu daily Rehnuma-e-Deccan.

Alleging that the previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government was "pro-Israel", he hoped the new government will adopt a policy which India followed on the Palestinian issue since the time of Mahatma Gandhi.

"The Palestinians expect India to stand by them for their just cause. They expect support from India as it gained independence from the colonial power," said Mir Akbar Ali Khan, the League's organising secretary.

Palestine's Grand Mufti Mohammed A.H. Hussein, parliamentarian Abdullah M.I. Abdullah, Palestine's Ambassador to India Adli Shaban Hassan Sadeq and Sudan's Ambassador to India Hassan E. El Talib addressed a public meeting organised by the League Friday night.

Established in 1967, the League has organised several meetings in the past in support of Palestine. Former prime ministers Indira Gandhi, I.K. Gujral, V.P. Singh and Atal Behari Vajpayee addressed its meetings.

Former Palestinian president Yasser Arafat had also visited Hyderabad at the invitation of the League in 1997.