Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh has said that India should play an active role in the Middle East peace process.
"India has been one of the leaders of the Non-Aligned Movement and has a sound record in upholding democratic principles. It is well placed to play an active role in the Middle East peace process," the newly sworn-in prime minister told PTI.
Haniyeh also thanked India for its steadfast support for the Palestinian cause.
"The Indian representative in Palestine recently met me here and conveyed that his government respects the will of the Palestinian people as seen through the recent elections," Haniyeh said, adding that the representative was briefed on the present political situation.
The Indian representative had also met Hamas' newly elected parliament speaker, Aziz Dwaik, and New Delhi had agreed to send its West Asia envoy to the region soon. About negotiations with Israel, Haniyeh said he would not object to PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas' efforts to kickstart talks with the Jewish state.
"If the PA chairman, as the elected president, wants to jumpstart talks, we have no objection to it," Haniyeh said after the swearing-in ceremony.
"The problem is not on the Palestinian side or its agreeing to negotiations, but that Israel does not honour commitments it makes in the negotiations," he added.
Taking a highly diplomatic stand, Haniyeh said his party will accept the outcome of negotiations between the Chairman and Israel if 'it serves Palestinian interests.'
Hamas formally took charge of the PA on Wednesday with Abbas swearing-in 24 cabinet ministers, including 14 who have been imprisoned in Israeli jails. The cabinet ministers took their oath in two ceremonies held simultaneously in West Bank and Gaza with the two centres hooked up by video conference.
Abbas presided over the ceremony in Gaza City, where Prime Minister Haniyeh took oath. The swearing-in broke an almost two month standoff between the Chairman and Hamas, which refused to accede to some of his key demands over past agreements made by Palestine Liberation Organisation.
Israeli interim Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Tuesday night said he was willing to negotiate with Mahmoud Abbas if he took steps to curb terror, but did not mention Hamas in his speech following exit polls results showing his party as the single largest in the Knesset (Israel Parliament).
Israel and the United States have called for the boycott of Hamas-led government if it did not disarm and dismantle terrorist infrastructure and recognise the Jewish state. The boycott could cripple a largely international aid-based Palestinian economy. Canada announced it was suspending aid to the PA soon after the oath taking ceremony.
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