Palestinian president hosts lunch for Sushma Swaraj

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday hosted a lunch for visiting Indian External Affairs Sushma Swaraj here.

"A fresh momentum to an old friendship. EAM @SushmaSwaraj calls on Abu Mazen, President Mahmoud Abbas," external affairs ministry spokesman Vikas Swarup tweeted.

Abbas is also known as Abu Mazen, a teknonym in Arabic.

"Breaking bread together in Palestine. President Mahmoud Abbas hosts lunch for EAM @SushmaSwaraj," Swarup said in another tweet.

Earlier on Sunday, Sushma Swaraj, who was accompanied by Secretary (East) in the external affairs ministry Anil Wadhwa and other senior officials of the ministry, held delegation level talks with her Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad Maliki, starting her visit to Palestine and Israel.

Following this, she paid floral tributes to Mahatma Gandhi at his bust at the Garden of Nations here.

She also paid tributes to the mausoleum of late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat here.

Sushma Swaraj, who landed in Tel Aviv late on Saturday, reached Ramallah, the administrative capital of Palestine, on Sunday morning.

From Palestine, the Indian minister will proceed to Israel to meet top Israeli leaders.