NEW DELHI/ISLAMABAD, 20 May 2005 — Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, on his first Asian swing, expects both India and Pakistan to play important roles in the quest for Middle East Peace.

Abbas arrived in New Delhi late yesterday on a two-day visit after a short swing to Islamabad earlier in the day.

Abbas is on his first Asian tour since succeeding the late Yasser Arafat as president of the Palestinian Authority in January and during his visit here India is expected to renew its support for the Palestinian cause.

Abbas said after talks with Pakistan President Gen. Pervez Musharraf earlier in the day that Musharraf could play an important role in the peace process.

His tour has also taken him to Japan, where he won a pledge of $100 million in aid to follow Israel’s withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, and to China, where he warned that despite progress the Middle East was still on the brink.

In India, he met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last evening and was greeted at the airport by Minister of State for External Affairs E.A.S Ahamed.

“We hope that comprehensive peace will prevail there (Middle East),” Ahamed asserted.

Abbas will today meet External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh and the leader of India’s governing Congress Party Sonia Gandhi.

Earlier, Palestinian Ambassador to India Osama Musa said: “India should use its increasing global clout to exert pressure on the international community to pressurize Israel to end the occupation of Palestine.”

“We are not against India’s growing relationship with Israel. On the contrary, India can use its relation with Israel to persuade Israel to abide by the UN resolutions on the Palestine,” Musa said.

Asserting that just “words” can no longer be expected to help the Palestinians, Musa said: “India has been a good friend and always supported the cause of an independent Palestinian state. Most of the world also supports us, but words and speeches are not enough. It’s time for action.”

“It’s not a just get-to-know-you visit,” said Kamal Mitra Chenoy, professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University. “It’s a reaffirmation of India being a major ally of the Palestinian cause by both sides.”

The Congress-led coalition’s manifesto last year underlined “India’s decades-old commitment to the cause of the Palestinian people for a homeland.”

As leader of the Cold War Non-Aligned Movement, India shunned Israel, but in 1992, New Delhi, under a then Congress government, established diplomatic ties with the Jewish state amid hopes of Middle East peace.

Abbas’s visit would help “balance” India’s ties with Israel and the Palestinians, said Commodore C. Uday Bhaskar, interim head of the Institute of Defense Studies and Analyses.

Earlier Abbas said, “President Musharraf can play a very significant and effective role in resolving the Palestinian question as he is an acknowledged world leader, who enjoys great respect for his vision and policies.”

“We hope that President Musharraf will put his political weight behind efforts for a just resolution of the lingering dispute,” he said, according to the official Associated Press of Pakistan.

Information Minister Sheikh Rashid said talks between Abbas and Musharraf had been very “fruitful.”

Abbas arrived in Islamabad from Beijing on a one-day visit during which he also held talks with Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz before flying to New Delhi to meet with Indian leaders.

Pakistan, a key US ally, has offered to mediate in the Middle East conflict although Islamabad has no diplomatic relations with Israel.

The visit will reinforce Pakistan’s “deep rooted” relations with the Palestinian people, the foreign office said before his arrival.

— With input from agencies