Palestine can become a member of UN only if it gets the status of an independent country. India has supports creation of a separate Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.

India's support for the Palestine's membership of the UN comes at a time just before the Indian Prime Minister prepares to leave US to attend the UN General Assembly.

'India has always supported the Palestinian people in their pursuit of legitimate goals and for development with dignity and self-reliance. I assure you of India's full support in the United Nations,' Singh wrote in the letter to Abbas.

The letter, written on Tuesday, was in response to an August 21 communication by Abbas to the PM 'regarding the initiative to seek full membership for Palestine in the UN.

'India's relations with Palestine are historic and firmly rooted in our national ethos. India has been unwavering in its support for the Palestinian people's struggle for a sovereign, independent, viable and united state of Palestine with East Jerusalem as its capital, living within secure and recognisable borders side by side and at peace with Israel' as endorsed in the Arab peace initiative quartet road map and the relevant UN Security Council resolution, the Indian Prime Minister said.

However, the Indian Prime Minister is not slated to meet the US President, Barack Obama, in the UNGA session in New York, but may meet at other international forums later this year, according to highly placed sources.

But India and China would be meeting at multilateral forums such as BRICS, the Indian Foreign Secretary, Ranjan Mathai said.

Since the Pakistan Prime Minister, Mr Yousuf Raza Gilani, has reportedly cancelled his visit to the UNGA meet, no meeting is possible with the Indian Prime Minister and Pakistan will now be represented by its Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar.

Dr Singh will be at the UN from 22 to 26 September, but India is yet to finalise his bilateral interactions, if any, including with China. India will also support a resolution on Palestinian statehood at the UN Security Council (UNSC), apart from supporting the credentials of the National Transitional Council of Libya to represent that country in the UNGA.

India, at present, heads the UNSC committee on counter-terrorism, set up after the 9/11 attacks a decade ago, where the counter-terrorism convention will be pushed, Indian Foreign Secretary said.

“The recent terrorist attack in New Delhi once again served as a reminder of the constant threat posed by terrorism to the security of democratic societies and well being of its citizens,” he said.

“We are currently chairing the UNSC committee on counter-terrorism established by its resolution adopted in the wake of September 11, 2001, terror attacks,” Mathai said, noting that India was organising a special meeting of the committee on 28 September, which is the 10th anniversary of the resolution.

“We will reiterate the need for strong international cooperation and collective action against terrorism. We have time and again insisted on full compliance by all states of their obligations under various UN resolutions and mechanisms on counter-terrorism,” the Indian Foreign Secretary said.

“We will also push for an early adoption of the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT) that will provide a global framework against terrorism,” he said.

India has also reaffirmed it strong commitment to prevent and combat non-communicable Diseases. The India Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Ghulam Nabi Azad commited before the High-level Meeting of the United Nations General Assembly on the Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases which began on September 19, 2011 in New York.