India on Friday declined to comment on Palestine Ambassador Adnan Abu Alhaijaa's claim that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit his country.
"I can't confirm and can only say that you are familiar about how we go about announcing high-level VIP visits," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said in response to a question at his weekly media briefing here.
"There is a proper mechanism through which we make announcements," he stated. "We normally do not announce a visit several months in advance. We do make an announcement at an appropriate time."
On Thursday, a day after US President Donald Trump recognised Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, Alhaijaa said during a panel discussion on Rajya Sabha TV: "I will announce here that Modi will visit Palestine."
India has remained non-committal on Trump's decision, saying its position on Palestine "is independent and consistent". Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is to visit India early next year.
--IANS
ab/mr
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