Palestinian Prez arrives in India, to meet Modi on Tuesday

Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's much-awaited Israel trip, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas landed here late on Sunday for a three-day visit. He will hold official engagements and bilateral meetings with Indian leaders on Tuesday.

On Monday, he visited an IT facility in Noida that is helping the Palestinian city of Ramallah build a high-end tech hub. Last October, India had agreed to spend $12 million financing a new IT hub in Ramallah in a sign of India's "strong commitment to support (the) Palestinian cause".

This is Abbas's fifth visit and third state visit to India. Earlier, he had substantive meetings with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York in September 2015.

Abbas and his delegation spent nearly two hours touring the Centre for Development of Advance Computing. He also attended a function at the India Islamic Cultural Centre in New Delhi. He will begin official engagements on Tuesday, when he will be formally welcomed at Rashtrapati Bhawan before meeting Modi.

Abbas and Modi will sign several deals "on cooperation in various areas", the External Affairs Ministry said, without providing specific details.