The victory was very important for India as it was up to Palestine to respect its friendship with the South Asian country. New Delhi was in an awkward position, as was Ramallah. However, the Palestinian Authority’s prompt diplomacy saved India from humiliation.
For long, India has been asking neighbouring Pakistan to take actions against ‘international terrorist’ Hafiz Saeed. New Delhi also asked Islamabad to arrest Saeed – the mastermind of 26/11 terror attack in Mumbai – and to hand him over to India. The global community knows that India is very much sensitive about the co-founder of Lashkar-e-Toiba and the chief of Jama’at-ud-Da’wah. The Pakistani national not only carries a USD 10 million American bounty on his head for terror activities, but also finds his place in the UN list of designated terrorists. China, popularly known as Pakistan’s ‘all weather friend’, too, avoids the Saeed issue.

Hafiz Saeed

Perhaps, Palestinian Ambassador to Pakistan Walid Abu Ali had other ideas. On December 29, Ali addressed a rally organised by the Difa-e-Pakistan council – an umbrella group of Islamist organisations – in Rawalpindi to protest US President Donald Trump’s recent decision to recognise Jerusalem as the Israeli capital. The envoy was seen sitting next to Saeed and exchanging a few words with the terrorist at the rally. Next day, Palestine recalled the ambassador soon after India termed it “unacceptable” that the diplomat shared the stage with a mastermind of terror attacks.
Why the senior Palestinian diplomat did this? Despite opposing India over the ‘Kashmir’ issue at international level, Palestine has always received India’s support in case of humanitarian and diplomatic crises. It is to be noted that India was among many friends of the US (and Israel) who recently voted in favour of a resolution at the UN General Assembly that opposed and rejected President Trump’s decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. India’s decision not only shocked the US and Israel, but also some ministers of the Modi government.

Palestinian Envoy Walid Abu Ali & Hafiz Saeed

India has tried hard to explain its stand on the ‘Jerusalem’ issue, although some may argue that the explanation is not logical. That’s a different issue altogether. But, it’s a fact that the Palestinian envoy created an awkward situation for India by sharing stage with a Pakistani terrorist. However, Ramallah made a quick decision after New Delhi slammed the Palestinian envoy for exchanging words with Saeed. By recalling its envoy, the Palestinian Authority made clear that they would always respect India’s position on the issue of terrorism (just like India that has always supported the Palestinian cause despite maintaining cordial ties with the US and Israel). This message is indeed crucial for New Delhi.
Some Indian political experts describe Palestine’s move as a diplomatic success for India. On December 29, India didn’t ignore the development in the neighbouring country, instead it strongly criticised the Palestinian envoy’s decision to meet a terrorist. India’s move to clarify its position with urgency has brought the success. For New Delhi, it was important to issue a clear statement. And, India did that.
One more thing in this entire episode is very significant. India has made clear to the global community that it will never compromise with Pakistan, as far as Saeed is concerned. Perhaps, Pakistan (too) has realised that it will lose ‘friends’, if it wants to use terrorists – like Saeed – against India.

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das