Commemorating the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian people, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi stressed his country’s abiding support to the Palestinian cause and strong bilateral ties.

"Our relationship with the Palestinian people is based on deep-rooted historical and people-to-people ties between our two nations," said the Indian Premier in a statement.

“India has been a committed development partner of Palestine and is actively engaged in extending technical and economic assistance to improve the lives of the Palestinian people”, he added. “I am glad that even during the pandemic our projects have progressed, including the Palestine-India Technopark, two schools, the national printing press, and a women empowerment project. We will continue to support the nation-building efforts of Palestine.”

The Prime Minister stressed that India’s position on the Palestine issue has been consistent. “India hopes for an early resumption of dialogue between Palestine and Israel to move towards finding a comprehensive and negotiated solution."

Modi extended his best wishes to “the friendly people of Palestine in their endeavor of statehood, peace, and prosperity”.

November 29 marks the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, which was first called for by the United Nations General Assembly in 1977 as a reminder to the international community of the Palestinian struggle for self-determination, nationhood and the right of return.

This year, the annual observance comes amidst an alarming situation exacerbated not only by the COVID-19 pandemic but also by Israel’s simmering human rights violations and escalating policy of apartheid, mass collective punishment, mass demolitions, and ethnic cleansing.

Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip and West Bank, including East Jerusalem, continue to live under a 53-year long Israeli military occupation and its violent settler-colonial practices that include home demolitions, house evictions, residency revocations, settlement expansion, child arrests, arbitrary detentions, torture and denial of freedom of movement, amongst other issues.

This year’s observance is also a stark reminder that Palestinians living inside the state of Israel are increasingly treated as second-class citizens with state-sectioned laws that continue to deprive them of the equality citizens are granted in democracies.