Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday, Oct 10, spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the phone and said that India condemns "terrorism in all its forms" amid the ongoing war between Israel and Palestinian terrorist group Hamas.
None can dispute that terrorism is a global challenge. Closer home in South Asia, it has been punctuated with all the more dangerous dimensions with diplomatic riddles.
On Feb 13, 2012, one Israeli diplomat in New Delhi was attacked with an improvised explosive mechanized device. All these must be seen in that paradigm.
'2012' was not Moditva-era, it was Sickular era. Nevertheless, the Israeli diplomat's wife Ms Tal Yehoshua-Koren, who was in the car when the explosion took place had sustained serious injuries.
Three other people, including the driver of the car, also had received minor injuries.
The UPA Government of India under Manmohan Singh had then taken the incident very seriously. The Home Minister P Chidambaram, known for proximity to Sonia-Rahul duo had termed the attack a ‘terror strike’ and that a very well trained person has committed the attack.
He said there were reasons to believe that the target was the Israeli diplomat’s wife and thus the investigations had to be pursued in that direction. The United States also had offered its assistance to India for the probe.
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| Survival of the fittest |
In the emerging global situation, India has over the years cherished smooth and cordial relations with both Iran and Israel.
India has formally termed Israel as an ‘important partner’ with enhanced ties in counter-terrorism, defence arena, agriculture, energy and culture.
Only in January 2012, the then External Affairs Minister S M Krishna made a state visit to Israel coinciding with the 20th anniversary of the establishment of formal diplomatic relations between Tel Aviv and New Delhi. It was no small tribute given the fact that formal relations between India and Israel had started only in 1992.
But the ties between the two countries have grown on a very fast pace under various governments in New Delhi. Similarly, with Iran too, India has had friendly and very warm relations in many areas.
There are significant trade ties, particularly in crude oil imports into India and diesel exports to Iran.
Lately, New Delhi has also tried to follow a different roadmap than the western countries like the US, who are in some sort of hurry and waiting in the wings for harsher sanctions against Tehran.
The general understanding is that Iran's nuclear programme will not affect India's broader engagement with that country as New Delhi is more keen to see that Tehran is able to play a balancing role in West Asia. Some of it -- improving ties especially with Israel and Iran started during the Congress regime; and hence creditably for the Modi government it has been carried forward further.
But the recent 'war' between Hamas and Israel has perhaps changed the game in more ways than one. But we also need to understand some related interesting facets.
War is a notoriously uncertain business; and experienced Americans in Afghanistan, Russians in Ukraine, Saudis in Yemen -- all would agree that.
Israel even this time around would ideally like to keep this war limited to Gaza and Hamas. But the other side and its backers and supporters would get into act.
"There is a very high chance that Israel might get embroiled on multiple fronts. The Hezbollah in Lebanon and Syria is a significant force, one that has fought Israel to a standstill in 2006" says strategic expert Sishant Sareen.
(Hamas and Hezbollah are not just terrorist groups. They are para-state organisations, more powerful than some states. These groups won’t be pushovers. The attack launched by Hamas would have taken months, if not years, to prepare. That it was able to keep its preparations and intentions under wraps says something about the group. It would have factored in Israeli reaction. It appears that Hamas has gamed Israeli reaction and is baiting it with a naked display of the barbarism and savagery it unleashed on Israeli civilians.)
PM Modi said that he was "deeply shocked" by the news of "terrorist attacks" in Israel. He added that India stands in "solidarity with Israel at this difficult hour".
The conflict that started on October 7, following Hamas' unprecedented and surprise attack on Israel, has so far claimed more than 1,600 lives on both sides. At least 900 people have been killed and 2,600 injured in Israel. Meanwhile, according to Gaza Health Ministry, 704 people have been killed, including 143 children and 105 women, and over 4,000 injured in Israeli airstrikes.
Netanyahu said that Israel did not initiate the war. "We didn’t want this war. It was forced upon us in the most brutal and savage way," he said, adding that though his country "didn’t start this war, it will finish it".
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