India commits US$ 4 million for Gaza Reconstruction at Cairo InternationalConference on Palestine

India participated in the Cairo International Conference on theReconstruction of Gaza on 12 October and pledged US $ 4 million, in responseto the National Early Recovery and Reconstruction Plan for Gaza, presentedby the Palestinian Authority.Mr.Sandeep Kumar, Joint Secretary (West Asiaand North Africa), Ministry of External Affairs, headed the Indiandelegation to the Conference. He was accompanied by Mr. Mahesh Kumar, theIndian Representative in Ramallah and Ambassador NavdeepSuri, the IndianAmbassador in Egypt.

Mr. Kumar said that the early realization of the objectives of the CairoConference will be an important element in the consolidation of the currentceasefire understanding between Palestine and Israel. He welcomed themediating role played by Egypt in the current ceasefire in Gaza, whilemaintaining that an early and sustainable resolution of the root cause ofthe conflict was an imperative. He stated that India firmly believed that acomprehensive dialogue remained the best guarantee of a durable peace foreffectively addressing the issues confronting the region and its people.

The Conference was co-hosted by Egypt and Norway.Delegations from morethan 75 countries and international organizations attended the Conference.The Palestinian Authority put together a Reconstruction Plan for Gazaestimated at US $4 billion, and countries pledged a total of $5.4 billion ($1.4 billion above the PA's Plan).

The Indian pledge is part of the long sustained India-Palestine partnership.India has been providing direct budgetary, economic and developmentalassistance to the Palestinian people. India has committed to assistPalestine in the fields of capacity development, education and informationtechnology. It is also implementing a series of development projects underthe India-Brazil-South Africa (IBSA) Fund in Palestine. One of theimportant future IBSA projects will be the reconstruction of the Atta Habibmedical centre in Shujiyaa, Gaza at a cost of US $ 1 million. Additionally,India has been contributing US $1 million annually to the United NationsRelief Works Agency (UNRWA) for supply of food and medicines in Gaza.