NEW DELHI: After last year’s indication that New Delhi will lean towards Tel Aviv more, India is back to its balancing act between Israel and Palestine. Ahead of the Minister of State for External Affairs MJ Akbar’s visit to Palestine, India inked an agreement to establish a Techno Park in Ramallah with $12 million grant.
The decision to establish the Park was announced during President Pranab Mukherjee’s visit to Palestine last year. According to the Ministry of External Affairs, India will be giving a grant of $12 million for setting up the Palestine-India Techno Park with $3million being provided every six months.
The Park will be a one stop solution for all IT related issues for business firms and investors alike.
The signing of the agreement came as Akbar will be heading to Palestine on November 8 to participate in the first India-Palestine Joint Commission Meeting that wll be covering plethora of issues including economy, energy, tourism, agriculture, water and environment, education, health, IT, Sports, culture, media etc.
India has last year signaled that it might rethinking its foreign policy in the region as it abstained from a UN Human Rights Council vote criticizing Tel Aviv for “alleged war crimes” in Gaza last year. It seemed as India will court Israel more openly as it was indicated that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will become the first Indian Prime Minister to visit the Jewish nation state.
However, one year after the dates of the visit remains far from being announced and it seems that India would not want to antagonise its Arab allies in the Middle East by eschewing its studied neutrality towards Israel. India has been using its economic leverage and its large Muslim population for strategic objectives, like undermining Pakistan’s clout in the region.