Palestine President arrives today on three-day visit

New Delhi, Oct 6 (UNI) India and Palestine will review the situation in West Asia during the State visit of the President of the Palestine National Authority (PNA), Mahmoud Abbas, here this evening.

The Palestine President, who arrives this evening on a three-day State visit, will also lay the foundation stone of the Palestinian embassy here and hold discussions with Indian leaders on the regional and international situation including West Asia.

Mr Abbas who will be accompanied by Foreign Minister Dr Riyad Al-Maliki and other senior officials, will meet President Pratibha Patil who will host a State banquet in his honour.

President Abbas will hold official-level talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on several issues of bilateral interest and the regional and international situation.

The situation in West Asia and the Middle East Peace Process (MEPP) will be prominently covered during the discussions, officials said.

Vice-President Hamid Ansari, UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Leader of the Opposition L K Advani and Minister of State for External Affairs E Ahamed will call on the PNA President.

During the visit, President Abbas will lay the foundation stone of the Chancery-cum-Residence complex of the Embassy of Palestine, ''being built as a gift of the Government and the people of India,'' an official spokesman said here.

The visit takes place inthe backdrop of heightened engagement between India and West Asia on one side and increasing Defence cooperation between India and Israel.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad also visited India a few months ago.

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