India has a large number of Israel supporters. Their “You hit me, I hit you back with double the force” attitude has been appreciated by a large number of Indians. Israel has been a good friend of India since 1992. India and Israel share 23 years of diplomatic ties. India and Israel work closely in sectors of Agriculture, mining, energy and of course defense. Israel has been India’s ally in combating terrorism. While no country has supported India in its pursuit against Pakistan, Israel has been doing it for long and very visibly and vocally so. Israel provided India with images of Pakistani locations using its UAVs during the Kargil War in 1999. India may have won the war without it but it would have taken longer and would have caused a great many causalities on the Indian side. Israel supported India’s “Operation Parakram”, a limited military strike against Pakistan in 2002, by supplying hardware through special planes.
But what has Israel gotten in return from India?
Hypocrisy. Oh and #PrayForGaza of course.
Yes that is what we have been doing. We have silently been a part of the international society for condemnation of Israel. We have brazenly denied Israel of what it rightfully deserves. We have been advocates of Gaza’s rights but we have failed to acknowledge that Israel is combating against a Fanatic outfit that is hell-bent on slaughtering every Israeli they can get a hold of. United Nations refuses to probe Hamas’ war crimes. The world has largely been duplicitous on the matter of Israel and Palestine and we have just toed their lines.
But, Thanks to the first right wing prime minister from the Congress clan, Shri PV Narsimha Rao. It was largely because of his efforts that the relations between India and Israel normalized in in January 1992. But even he couldn’t become the first Indian Prime Minister of India to visit Israel. The fear of backlash at home was quite evident. Now the world looks up at Narendra Modi who could very well be the first prime minister of India to visit Israel. Although the MoEA clarified that it was a “proposed” visit and the details are not finalized yet, the detractors are at it already.
Congressman Anand Sharma said “India has had a consistent and firm position on the rights of Palestinians for a state of their own since the days of Mahatma Gandhi and Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. He called the idea of visiting Israel worrisome.”
The Communist Party of India-Marxist pointed out that “the current Israeli government of Benjamin Netanyahu was dominated by rightwing and Jewish extremist parties and that Modi’s Israel visit amounts to deserting Palestine.”
Aam Aadmi Party and other leftist outfits are yet to issue a public statement but let us not waste any time in pondering over their upcoming nuggets of wisdom. They were amongst the first ones to pray for Gaza so their stance is almost clear.
So the left is once again united in their cause against Israel.
And many of the National dailies were afraid of an Arab backlash. I am not too sure what that means? That probably means that we’ll cease to exist in the good books of Arabs who give us oil and employ so many Indians. Wow! Some logic. I am not too sure if India’s largely pro-Arab stance in the Middle East has borne any sweet fruits till now? They never supported India in resolving the issues in Kashmir. They have never put any kinds of pressure on Pakistan as far as matters of curbing terrorism are concerned. In fact they have brazenly stood by Pakistan’s side. Fine they give us oil but hey! We pay for it. Don’t we?
It’s time that Modi takes a friendlier step towards Israel. India and Israel united will be a force to reckon with. Modi must visit Israel and Israel must get from India what it truly and rightfully deserves. Israel and India need to become open friends rather than closet allies. Backlashes will happen at home, antigovernment slogans will trend on Twitter but that shouldn’t discourage the Indian Prime Minister who has come a long way jumping on the heads of ranters, critics, and disparagers.
Picture Courtesy: http://www.hindustantimes.com
not many countries refuse to sell weapons to Pakistan just because they are at war with India……Israel is ONLY one of them……God bless ISRAEL..!!
Israel does sell to Pakistan – http://www.worldjewishdaily.com/israel-selling-weapons-arab-countries.php
Man. If only foreign policy was that simplistic. As for #PrayForGaza, you can do that and you can also support Israel’s right to exist. Dont see how they are exclusionary. But then nuance has never been a conservative’s best suit. Saudis will give us oil because we pay for it? Really? All that simple? That’s all there, eh?
Why are you bothering with rational thinking on this retard’s page. He’s a well known sanghi zealot who’s never been ambiguous about his agenda , ..well except maybe during the initial days of starting his page when it gained popularity as a politically ambivalent voice speaking on mundane problems, when it had time enough to fool enough people into subscribing to its daily output of rubbish in the run upto every election.
Arab countries have done far more for India than Israel has really,so if you cannot see why India would want to please them,you’ll only have to do some more research,I’m sure you’ll find your answers eventually :)
Dear Mr whoever u r ; r u aware of wars of 1965;1971;if not then plz go and read details . Saudi and Arab including Iran Iran supported to Pakistan by actively participation with their air force against India.and u r supporting them.they r doing business and we r paying for it. Israel country surrounded by all Arab enemy but they r outstanding against all of them.what they HV done for India only oils .in return we also paid them money in deenars.also provides muscle power to them for all ground work. Go and do research first and dn opinion
Its not that simple that they sell us oil and we pay for it…. The only thing that third world fears the most is oil crisis and hence appeasement of middle east is a kind of unwanted liability that every country has to bear …. USA not being an exception…. Atul sir, I think you forgot to mention that PM’s Israel tour will be followed by a tour to Palestine for any damage control that may be required then. Given India’s demographic liabilities and dependence on middle east for employment… conciliation with Israel isn’t a walk in the park.
They have nothing else to sell other than oil…they need us as much as we need them (if not more)
They got plenty of other customers dumbass. So good luck stubbing your nose at them.
In that case, I request you to explain why the oil prices plummeted after the Shale oil boom in USA.
SAudi-US was trying to undercut russia and force it to sell low enough to not make any profits. This was at the time of the ukraine crisis, and full efforts were ongoing to squeeze russia with sanctions and all other possible means.
Also, I must mention that I never said we are the ONLY customers. It’s just that we are large consumers of oil and they won’t want to lose us. In addition to that, new sources of energy are fast emerging. This will eventually lead to decline of demand of oil. Finally, next time, kindly consider the usage of a word better than “dumbass” when you participate in a civilised discussion
Regret the abuse . But your comment made it sound like the whole world must unite and stop buying from KSA to get them to behave themselves. This is next to impossible.