The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Sunday, August 20, 2000,
Chandigarh, India

THE TRIBUNE SPECIALS

50 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE

TERCENTENARY CELEBRATIONS

M A I N N E W S

Arafat seeks India’s help
From T. R. Ramachandran
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, Aug 19 — Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) Chairman Yasser Arafat wants India to play an even more “supportive and interventionist” role in hastening the declaration of independence.

While appreciating New Delhi’s consistent support to the Palestinian cause, Mr Arafat, who called on President K R Narayanan here this morning and held extensive consultations with Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee last night, felt India could use its good offices with Israel in accelerating the West Asia peace process.

“We have always welcomed the good offices of the Indian leadership and the people of this country for its fair support to the Palestinians,” Palestinian ambassador to India Khalid el Shaikh told TNS after Mr Arafat emplaned for home in the forenoon today.

He said as always “President Arafat was received very warmly and his discussions with the Indian leadership was extremely good and highly fruitful. India’s commitment to the Palestinians remains unaltered. Mr Vajpayee reiterated India’s stand as it has already recognised the state of Palestine soon after independence was declared in Algiers on November 15, 1988,” the ambassador observed.

Clearly, Mr Arafat’s all too brief and sudden 15-hour visit to this country was primarily to impress upon the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government to exert pressure on Israel not to constantly renege on its pledges contained in the Sharm-el-Sheikh Declaration initialled in the presence of host Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and the Jordanian leader.

Mr Shaikh said Mr Arafat was originally scheduled to return late last night after his discussions with Mr Vajpayee over dinner. After tremendous persuasion Mr Arafat agreed to spend the night in New Delhi. The Palestinian leader could not extend his stay any further as he had to attend pressing engagements back home.

The ambassador said right from the start the Palestinians had strong reservations about the US brokered talks at Camp David succeeding because of lack of preparations. Unfortunately, US President Bill Clinton wanted to emerge as a peace maker but that was not to be.

In any case, the Palestinian leader has underlined the need for continuing the negotiations with Israel for evolving a firm ground as a means of achieving the necessary breakthrough and success.

Mr Arafat briefed the Indian leadership about the contentious issues that botched up the Camp David peace process which had not been very encouraging. The Palestinian leader was keen to hear India’s views and any advice that Mr Vajpayee might offer so that the statehood declaration was not delayed for an extended length of time.

Mr Arafat also told the Indian leaders that Israel’s gambit of dragging its feet was not only impeding the peace process but beginning to frustrate the Palestinian people.

“We are looking to the world community for some good results,” Mr Shaikh noted. “We desire early resolution of the problem and in any case we are not looking beyond this year for declaring Palestine as an independent state. In any case the September 13 date for the declaration was not fixed unilaterally by us but contained in the Sharm-el-Sheikh Declaration.”

Mr Arafat had to rush home from New Delhi after a whistle stop global tour to drum up support for declaring Palestine as an independent state because a Cabinet meeting had been fixed for today. Then US State Department negotiator Dennis Ross was also in the region to see if the two sides were ready to move towards a peace accord.

Interestingly, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak speaking on Palestinian statehood said for the first time that he was ready to accede to it if the Palestinians formally ended their conflict with Israel.

There has been resistance from major powers to Mr Arafat unilaterally declaring statehood for Palestine. These countries have counselled Mr Arafat to wait a while longer and formalise an agreement with Israel in the overall interests of the Palestinians.