New Delhi, Oct. 29: India today said it continued to regard Yasser Arafat as the main leader of the Palestinian struggle and was not willing to look beyond as long as he was around.

This was stated clearly by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in a letter written this afternoon to the Palestinian President who is unwell.

Singh expressed hope that Arafat would soon ?return to good health, so that he can continue to lead the friendly Palestinian people in their quest for a homeland of their own?.

The Prime Minister also offered ?any assistance? that Arafat or the Palestinian people might need to tide over the crisis.

The letter reaffirmed the stand taken by the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance in its common minimum programme. It also iterated that there was no shift in Delhi?s stand.

The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance had also made it clear to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon last year that Delhi considered Arafat to be the only leader of Palestine and there was no dilution in India?s support to the Palestinian movement.

In a few weeks? time, India and Israel will start their first official engagement when the foreign office consultation between the two sides begin in Delhi, followed by a meeting of the joint working group on counter-terrorism. The situation in West Asia and steps being taken to restart the peace process are likely to come up for discussion.