India, Palestine signed MoU for setting up a techno park

•  India and Palestine have signed an agreement for setting up a techno park in Ramallah with an Indian grant of $12 million.
• The decision to set up ‘Palestine-India Techno Park’ was taken during the visit of President Pranab Mukherjee to that country last October
• Once completed, the Techno Park will serve as an IT hub in Palestine with complete IT facilities offering a one-stop solution to all IT-related service requirements.
• It will also provide the state-of-the-art technology, hosts IT companies and foreign companies benefiting local business, universities and other institutions.

Analysis:

• India’s solidarity with the Palestinian people and its attitude to the Palestinian question was given voice through our freedom struggle by Mahatma Gandhi. India’s empathy with the Palestinian cause and its friendship with the people of Palestine have become an integral part of its time-tested foreign policy. In 1947, India voted against the partition of Palestine at the United Nations General Assembly. India was the first Non-Arab State to recognize PLO as sole and legitimate representative of the Palestinian people in 1974.
• India was one of the first countries to recognize the State of Palestine in 1988. In 1996, India opened its Representative Office to the Palestine Authority in Gaza, which later was shifted to Ramallah in 2003.
• India always played a proactive role in garnering support for the Palestinian cause in multilateral fora. India co-sponsored the draft resolution on “the right of Palestinians to self-determination” during the 53rd session of the UN General Assembly and voted in favour of it.
• India also voted in favour of UN General Assembly Resolution in October 2003 against construction of the security wall by Israel and supported subsequent resolutions of the UNGA in this regard.
• India voted in favour of accepting Palestine as a full member of UNESCO. At the United Nations General Assembly on November 29, 2012 the status of Palestine was upgraded to a non-member state. India co-sponsored this resolution and voted in favour of it.
• Apart from the strong political support to the Palestinian cause at international and bilateral levels, India has been contributing, since long time, material and technical assistance to the Palestinian people. With the Government of India’s aid, two projects were completed in the field of higher education i.e. Jawaharlal Nehru Library at the Al Azhar University in Gaza city and the Mahatma Gandhi Library-cum-Student Activity Centre at the Palestine Technical College at Deir Al Balah in the Gaza Strip. Under India-Brazil-South Africa (IBSA) Forum’s assistance, an Indoor Multi-purpose Sports Complex has been constructed in Ramallah. Al Quds hospital in Gaza is in the process of reconstruction and the process of building a rehabilitation centre in Nablus has started.
• Trade between India and Palestine has shown steady improvement. Products imported from India include fabrics, yarns, readymade garments, household appliances, stationery products, leather products, industrial tools and accessories, basmati rice, spices, vaccines and pharmaceutical products, sanitary wares, marble and granites.

By: Vishal