United Nations, Jan 15 (AP) The United Nations says Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and stressed again that a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the only path to peace.

Guterres' strong backing for an independent Palestinian state came ahead of the release of a long-awaited U.S. plan for Israeli-Palestinian peace and Israeli elections in April.

U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric says Guterres also congratulated Abbas during Monday's meeting on the election of the Palestinians to preside over the Group of 77, a bloc of 134 mainly developing nations and China that promotes their collective interests at the United Nations. Abbas will take over the chairmanship from Egypt on Tuesday.

As Abbas and his entourage left U.N. headquarters, Palestinian Ambassador Riyad Mansour told reporters: "It was a good meeting." (AP) SMJ

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)