Jerusalem, Jun 13: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has thanked his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi for voting in favour of a decision introduced by the Jewish state that objected to granting consultative status to a Palestinian group at the UN's Economic and Social Council.
In a rare move, India on Tuesday voted in favour of Israel in the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) to deny the Palestinian non-governmental organisation 'Shahed' the observer status, after Israel said the organisation did not disclose its ties with Hamas.
Thank you @NarendraModi, thank you India, for your support and for standing with Israel at the UN, Netanyahu said in a tweet on Wednesday, almost a week after the June 6 vote.
It is the first time that India has voted on a resolution at the UN that is being perceived as pro-Israel.
India's position on the Middle East Peace Process has been consistent and clear. India supports a negotiated solution resulting in a sovereign, independent, viable and united State of Palestine, with East Jerusalem as its capital, living within secure and recognised borders, side by side at peace with Israel as endorsed in the Quartet Roadmap and relevant UNSC Resolutions.
India has also always played a proactive role in garnering support for the Palestinian cause in multilateral fora.
New Delhi had abstained during a voting at the UNHRC in 2015 on a resolution related to violence in Gaza which was seen as a significant move in Israel and attributed by many to the emerging strong chemistry between Modi and Netanyahu .
India had then explained to the Palestinian Authority the reasons for its stand and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas had "accepted and understood" why New Delhi abstained then.
The ECOSOC vote, which took place at the UN, saw countries such as the US, France, Germany, India, Japan, the UK, South Korea and Canada polling in favour of Israel, while China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and others voted against it.
The proposal made by the Palestinian NGO Shahed' to obtain observer status in the UN was rejected by a 28-14 vote.
Maya Kadosh, deputy chief of mission at the Israel embassy in India, on Tuesday in a Tweet thanked New Delhi "for standing with @IsraelinUN and rejecting the request of terrorist organization Shahed to obtain the status of an observer in #UN. Together we will continue to act against terrorist organizations that intend to harm.
Kadosh mentioned that the organisation has links with Hizbullah and Palestinian Islamic Jihad that was designated as terrorist organisation in 1997.
This is a good sign, India was the first country to support us amongst the Asia group, so we are very happy, she added.
A statement by Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs later said that Shahed' claims to be dealing with human rights and humanitarian issues, but in practice it is a terrorist organisation and operates as an arm of the Hamas terror organisation based in Lebanon.
The Palestinian Islamist group Hamas has been described as a terrorist organisation by many European countries.
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Bengaluru: A man accused of killing his vlogger girlfriend in Bengaluru and spending two days with her body has been arrested, according to police sources. Reports suggest he was arrested outside Karnataka, indicating that he fled the state after the alleged crime.
The victim, Maya Gogoi, a vlogger from Assam, was reportedly killed by her boyfriend, Aarav Hanoy, at a serviced apartment in Bengaluru earlier this week.
In a disturbing revelation, police stated that Hanoy spent two days with Gogoi's corpse, during which he was said to have smoked cigarettes while sitting in front of the body.
Following the crime, Aarav Hanoy left the serviced apartment in a taxi and traveled to the Majestic area in Bengaluru's Central Business District. He then switched off his phone, making it difficult for the authorities to trace him.
Police had formed two special teams to locate Hanoy and launched a manhunt, which eventually led to his arrest.
Maya, who lived with her sister in Bengaluru's HSR Layout, had informed her sister on Friday that she would not be returning home as she was attending an office party. On Saturday, she sent another message stating she was partying again that night.
Maya’s sister informed the police that the couple had been in a relationship for the past six months after meeting on social media.