Rawalpindi, Dec 30: India expressed displeasure and slammed Palestine after its ambassador to Pakistan shared stage with 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks mastermind Hafeez Saeed in Rawalpindi. India on Friday said that it would “strongly” take up the ambassador’s appearance with the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) co-founder with the Palestinian authorities.
“We have seen reports in this regard. We are taking up the matter strongly with the Palestinian Ambassador in New Delhi and with the Palestinian authorities,” foreign ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said. (Also Read: Hafiz Saeed Defies Pakistan Government, Opens Milli Muslim League Office in Lahore Without Registration)
Images of Palestine ambassador to Pakistan, Walid Abu Ali, started circulating on social media after he reportedly made an appearance at a rally organised by Hafiz Saeed in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. The rally was called by Saeed to defend Jerusalem from Israel. The agenda, according to the reports, was to put pressure on Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi to call an Islamic Summit Conference defending Jerusalem.
The meeting of Palestinian envoy to Pakistan with Hafiz Saeed comes days after India voted against the United States’ decision to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and voted in favour of UN’s resolution which demanded Washington comply with Security Council decisions against changing the status of Jerusalem. The resolution also called the US and Israeli action on the city “null and void”. (Also Read: Jolt For US as 14 Nations Back UNSC’s Resolution on Jerusalem)
India, along with 127 other countries, voted against the US’ decision on Jerusalem. While The countries that voted against the UN General Assembly resolution were: US, Israel, Honduras, Guatemala, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau, Togo, and Micronesia. 35 countries had abstained from voting.
The United Nations has banned Hafiz Saeed as a global terrorist. He has been accused of engineering the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks. The global terrorist carries a bounty of 10 million USD (approx. Rs 66 crore) and continues to exercise a lot of influence in religious circles.