Sushma Swaraj pays tributes to Yasser Arafat

RAMALLAH: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj today paid tributes to iconic Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, calling the late President a "friend of India".

Swaraj, who began her first visit to the West Asia region with meetings here, laid a wreath at the mausoleum of Arafat in this Palestinian city.

"A leader of his people & a friend of India. EAM @SushmaSwaraj pays tribute at the mausoleum of Yasser Arafat," tweeted Vikas Swarup, spokesperson, Ministry of External Affairs.

Arafat, the first President of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), struggled for Palestinian statehood exerting his powerful influence on the international stage for three decades, before his political confinement in Ramallah in 2001.

Arafat passed away on November 11, 2004 at the age of 75.

Soon after her arrival here, Swaraj held talks with her Palestinian counterpart Riyad al-Maliki. She also paid a floral tribute at Mahatma Gandhi's bust here.