NEW DELHI: After Norway, Spain and Ireland decided to recognise Palestine as a state, Palestinian officials claim that more countries like Belgium and Slovania are likely to do the same.
"India I am sure will be happy to hear that other nations are joining in to recognise Palestine as a state. India has always supported the two-state solution and was one of the first non-Arab nations to recognise Palestine as a state in 1988 and also recognise the PLO in 1975," Palestinian Ambassador to India Adnan Abu Alhaija told The New Indian Express.
In 1996, India opened its Representative Office to Palestine in Gaza City which was shifted to Ramallah in 2003.
Ambassador Alhaija also spoke about the likelihood of Belgium and Slovania doing the same.
"There are some nations like Venezuela who despite having recognised us don’t have voting rights in the UN as they don’t pay the annual fee. Some other countries too can't pay, else the number of countries recognising Palestine as a state would have been higher," the Ambassador added.
As of now, 143 countries out of the 193 UN members have recognised Palestine as a state. The three additional announcements will bring this number to 146.
Meanwhile, Israel has decided to recall its envoys in Norway and Ireland after these developments.