The Palestinian government on Saturday decided to recall its ambassador to Pakistan, for sharing the stage with the 2008 Mumbai attacks mastermind and Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed, The Hindu reported.
“What he did [sharing the dais with Saeed] was unacceptable to the Palestinian government,” Palestine’s ambassador to New Delhi Adnan Abu Alhaijaa said. “Palestine supports India in its fight against terrorism.”
Earlier, India’s Ministry of External Affairs said that it had “strongly conveyed” to the Palestinian government that the presence of Palestinian Ambassador to Pakistan Walid Abu Ali at an event Saeed attended was unacceptable.
“The Palestinian side has conveyed deep regrets over the incident and assured the government of India that they are taking serious cognizance of their ambassador’s presence at this event,” the ministry said. “They have said they will deal with this matter appropriately”.
At Friday’s event, Saeed, a United Nations-designated terrorist, made speeches against India and the United States, and also made references to Kashmir and former Indian naval officer Kulbhushan Jadhav. The development comes a week after India voted against the United States’ move to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital at the United Nations.
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