New Delhi
2 December 2009
New Delhi does not have a full-time special envoy for West Asia any more. Till
recently, Ambassador Chinmaya Gharekhan (Retd), who is the longest serving Indian
permanent representative to the United Nations, held the position.
The discontinuation of Mr Gharekhan's services has given rise to the speculation that
UPA 2.0 has reverted to indifference towards the Palestinian cause and retreated from its
attitude which was on display in its previous term.
After the Congress-led UPA came to power in 2004, with the outside support from the Left
parties, it sought to project the image that India's ties with Israel would not affect its
support of the Palestinian cause.
Accordingly, in January 2005, Mr Gharekhan was appointed as Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh's special envoy for West Asia. His appointment was seen as an
expression of the UPA's desire to improve its ties with the Arab world.
Subsequently, Mr Gharekhan made several visits to the region. He also accompanied
Union Minister Kapil Sibal to the West Asia peace conference held in Annapolis,
Maryland, in the US in November 2007.
However, sources privy to the Government's thinking have defended by saying that the
post has not been done away with. A source insisted that Mr Gharekhan has
"relinquished" his position, but there was no word yet on a successor to him.
Another source insisted that the Prime Minister's Office has worked out an arrangement
whereby Mr Gharekhan would be a "standing envoy" who would be called in as and
when his expertise is required.
Still others cited India's commemoration of the "International Day of Solidarity with the
Palestinian People" here on Wednesday to maintain that India remains committed to the
idea of a free, secular, democratic Palestine.
Speaking on the occasion, Union Minister of State of External Affairs Shashi Tharoor
endorsed a State of Palestine living within secure and recognised borders with East
Jerusalem as its Capital, side by side with the State of Israel.
"Continued expansion of settlements is not helpful to the resumption of the peace
process," Tharoor said, and called for an end to Israeli settlements in the occupied
territories.
Mr Gharekhan was one of a few special envoys appointed during Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh's first five-year term in office from 2004 to 2009. The others were
Shyam Saran and Satinder K Lambah.
Saran, a former foreign secretary, was initially appointed as special envoy for the India-
US nuclear deal but later his mandate was extended to include climate change. Lambah
is the PM's special envoy for Pakistan.
Incidentally, the Congress Working Committee sent greetings to Palestine as early as in
1936, and 27 September 1936 was observed in India as Palestine Day. The 1939
Session of the Indian National Congress adopted a Resolution on Palestine.
India was the first non-Arab State to recognise the Palestine Liberation Organisation
(PLO) as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people in 1975 and in 1988
became one of the first countries to recognise the State of Palestine.
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