India stands with Isreal

[mughal arslan shah mirza]

Sunday, July 27, 2014
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Foreign and Defense Policy, India, Middle East and North Africa
India stands with Israel
Sadanand Dhume | July 23, 2014, 12:54 pm

Image Credit: twitter.com/tajinderbagga

The New York Times and the Washington Post may be with filled stories about anti-Israel protests in London and Paris, but half a world away in India something rather different is unfolding. A strong undercurrent of support for Israel is expressing itself in both government action and public discourse.

In my Wall Street Journal column this week, I point out that the newly elected government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi appears to be resisting the usual reflexive Indian support for Palestinians every time a conflict with Israel erupts. (On Monday, India’s government beat back opposition demands in Parliament to censure Israel.) But a more even-handed approach by India’s government to Gaza is only part of the story. Over the past couple of weeks, a rash of opinion pieces in India have urged India to stand by Israel. You can read some of the better ones here, here and here. Meanwhile, the hashtag #IndiaWithIsrael trended on Twitter in India. And a small outfit sympathetic to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party even organized a rally in New Delhi for India’s “time-tested” ally.

Needless to say, this upsurge of support for Israel doesn’t mean that India has entirely outgrown its traditional Third Worldist sympathies for the Palestinian cause. Leftists of various persuasions still hark back to Nehru and condemn India’s ties with Israel as some sort of moral outrage. And on Wednesday, India voted with fellow BRICS nations for a resolution to launch an inquiry into possible war crimes at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva.

Nonetheless, compared with the past, when the bloodstained Yasser Arafat could always count on a diplomatic bear hug from Indira Gandhi, things are better. And Israel is certainly a lot less isolated than a perfunctory reading of the U.S. newspapers would suggest.

From here: India stands with Israel | AEIdeas

 

[idune]

Indians standing up for Israeli terror and genocide, why that does not surprise us?

 

[mughal arslan shah mirza]

Revealed: The India-Israel Axis
Ordinary Indians instinctively grasp the natural confluence of interests with Israel.


By
Sadanand Dhume
connect
July 23, 2014 12:41 p.m. ET
Even as pro-Palestinian protestors take to the streets of London and Paris, Israel's ties with the world's largest democracy are on the upswing. For the first time in a decade, New Delhi appears ready to suggest publicly what many officials already acknowledge privately: A burgeoning strategic partnership with Israel matters more to India than reflexive solidarity with the Palestinian cause.

India's new warmth toward Jerusalem is unmistakable. Two days after Israel launched Operation Protective Edge on July 8, India's Foreign Ministry expressed concern over the "tragic loss of civilian lives" in the Gaza Strip. But it also signaled alarm at "cross-border provocations resulting from rocket attacks" on Israel.

On Monday, the government of new Prime Minister Narendra Modi refused to bow to pressure from communist and Congress lawmakers to censure Israel in Parliament. Eight years ago, a previous Parliament had no trouble condemning Israel in a one-sided resolution passed during its war with the terrorist group Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Why the change? To begin with, the Modi administration arguably has more natural affinity with Israel than any previous Indian government. Mr. Modi visited Israel as chief minister of the western state of Gujarat and has spoken publicly about emulating the Jewish state's remarkable economic success. Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj used to head an India-Israel "friendship forum" in Parliament. Several parliamentarians and intellectuals aligned with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party have traveled more than once to Israel.

Unlike India's leftists, who tend to view Israel as a "neoimperialist aggressor" oppressing the Palestinians, most BJP supporters see the Jewish state more like most Americans do—as a doughty democracy standing up to terrorism in a rough neighborhood. Both countries face a threat from Islamist terrorists.

To be sure, the pursuit of closer ties with Jerusalem is hardly a BJP monopoly. Congress Party Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao ended India's Cold War hostility toward Israel by establishing full diplomatic relations in 1992.

But Mr. Rao acted when the Nehru-Gandhi family's sway over Congress was at its lowest ebb. India's founding Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru was an outspoken partisan of the Palestinians. Under his daughter, Indira Gandhi, bear hugs for the blood-soaked Palestine Liberation Organization's Yasser Arafat became commonplace in India.

In 2004, when Congress returned to power under Sonia Gandhi after ousting the BJP, India-Israel ties turned frosty. Instead of simply maintaining its longstanding support for a two-state solution, India threw its weight behind the Palestinian demand for East Jerusalem as the capital of a future state. High level government visits between India and Israel lost momentum, though bilateral trade, defense and intelligence ties set in motion by previous governments quietly continued to grow.

Though dressed up in principle, Congress's tilt toward the Palestinians was all about domestic politics. It assumed that India's 150 million Muslims are almost uniformly hostile to Israel and care more about the issue than do other Indians.

By the reductionist logic of Indian politics, you don't win votes by backing Israel but you can lose Muslim votes if your support is too obvious. Two years ago, on the campaign trail in Uttar Pradesh, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi attacked an opponent for allegedly promising to make a drought-stricken region bloom like the Israeli desert, a dog whistle aimed at Muslim voters.

For India, an end to the so-called Muslim veto is unambiguously good news. Indian farmers of all faiths can benefit from Israeli expertise in drip irrigation. Startups in Bangalore and Hyderabad see Israeli firms like Check Point (software) and Teva (pharmaceuticals) as role models. The rise of radical Islam across South Asia and the Middle East has raised the stakes for intelligence sharing between Jerusalem and New Delhi. The global norm that Israel is fighting to uphold—that terrorism has consequences—directly benefits India.

In terms of military cooperation, few countries have backed New Delhi as Israel did by supplying artillery shells during the 1999 Kargil conflict with Pakistan. Since then, Israel has emerged as India's second biggest arms supplier after Russia.

The arguments put forward against closer ties with Israel—India's dependence on energy supplies and worker remittances from the Gulf—date to the 1970s. They downplay the facts that oil and gas are freely traded international commodities, and that Gulf economies that rely on Indian labor are hardly doing India a favor by employing its workers.

Many ordinary Indians instinctively grasp the natural confluence of interests with Israel. Last week, as the conflict in Gaza intensified, the hashtag #IndiaWithIsrael trended on Twitter in India, and a group linked with the BJP organized a rally in Delhi in support of Operation Protective Edge.

The challenge for India's new government is to consolidate this positive sentiment toward Israel to ensure that no future administration can backslide again. It can start by scheduling a visit by Mr. Modi to Israel—which would be the first by a sitting Indian prime minister.

Inviting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to visit New Delhi, perhaps as chief guest at next January's Republic Day parade, is also long overdue. It's time to finally bring the India-Israel relationship out of the closet—for good.

 

[idune]

Indians for israeli terror and genocide

Is Narendra Modi, India’s New Prime Minister, Israel’s New Best Friend?

Controversial in the U.S., the Hindu nationalist has cultivated a close relationship with the Jewish state—and says he wants to get closer


By Jeff Moskowitz

Narendra Modi (second from right) is garlanded as he arrives at a public rally after his victory in Vadodara on May 16, 2014. (Indranil Mukherjee/AFP/Getty Images)

Israel and India, a Match Made in the U.S., Develop Their Own Military Romance

Israelis who have met Narendra Modi, India’s newly elected prime minister-designate, gush about him and what he means for Israel. At a recent event at the Institute for National Security Studies, in Tel Aviv, he was described in glowing terms: “outgoing”; “assertive”; “extremely, extremely clever”; and “very tachles, very direct, very Israeli.” Among the calls Modi received congratulating him on his win last week was one from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who told his cabinet at their weekly meeting that Modi had replied by expressing the desire to “deepen and develop economic ties with the state of Israel.”

When Modi, the head of the Hindu nationalist BJP party, is sworn in as prime minister on Monday, he will become the only Indian premier to have ever visited the Jewish state.

http://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-news-and-politics/173767/modi-israels-new-best-friend

 

[mughal arslan shah mirza]

he (NarendraModi)was described in glowing terms: “outgoing”; “assertive”; “extremely, extremely clever”; and “very tachles, very direct, very Israeli.

Wow . Interesting remarks.

 

[Gandhi G in da house]

Freedom of speech and expression. Freedom of choice. There are as many Indians condemning Israel as well. It's democracy. Some here may not understand.

 

[Chinese-Dragon]

ISRAAAAAEEEEEELLL has excellent water management technologies.

 

[idune]

Freedom of speech and expression. Freedom of choice. There are as many Indians condemning Israel as well. It's democracy. Some here may not understand.

When indians supported and elected a hindu fundamentalist entity in power, and supports and commit terrorism, there is very little excuse left for indians to claim democracy, decency or human values. Period.

 

[Gandhi G in da house]

When indians supported and elected a hindu fundamentalist entity in power, and supports and commit terrorism, there is very little excuse left for indians to claim democracy, decency or human values. Period.

The day UN or some international agency worth some repute declares Modi a terrorist, then Indians may take you seriously. Until then, you will only be laughed at.

Also, please get over this Jamaati/Islamist hangover of Modi election of yours, it's been two months now.

 

[Yaduveer]

At Least Pakistani should not claim to be real well wisher of Palestine People.

Your Pakistani army is involved in killing of as many as 25000 Palestine people.

If you don't know search Black September in Google.

 

[iPhone]

At Least Pakistani should not claim to be real well wisher of Palestine People.

Your Pakistani army is involved in killing of as many as 25000 Palestine people.

If you don't know search Black September in Google.

Oh, really, looks like you don't know your *** from your elbow. Continue whoring for your Israeli pimps.

 

[idune]

The day UN or some international agency worth some repute declares Modi a terrorist, then Indians may take you seriously. Until then, you will only be laughed at.

One, UN does not dictate who to vote in India, it is indians knowingly voted a hindu fundamentalist. Second, if indians are so much in respect of UN call then why indians refused to obey United Nations Security Council Resolution 47 and hold plebiscite to decide the fate of Kashmir?

Indian lie and deception has no bound and in full display.

 

[Yaduveer]

I am quating from your Dawn News paper ...

Oh, really, looks like you don't know your *** from your elbow. Continue whoring for your Israeli pimps.

A great number of Palestinians had settled in Jordan after the creation of Israel in 1948 and over time they formed a strong minority and raised the question of an independent Palestine. King Hussein of Jordan feared that the Palestinians could endanger his kingdom; he therefore ordered an action against Palestinian camps. The estimated number of Palestinians killed in this action is believed to be anywhere from 2,000 to 25,000, depending on the source. It is however certain that their forces were thoroughly routed. Thanks to his role in this action, Ziaul Haq, a brigadier at that time, came to be remembered as the Palestinian killer in his own country.

A leaf from history: Enter: Ziaul Haq - Newspaper - DAWN.COM

 

[sarthak]

The day UN or some international agency worth some repute declares Modi a terrorist, then Indians may take you seriously. Until then, you will only be laughed at.

Also, please get over this Jamaati/Islamist hangover of Modi election of yours, it's been two months now.

Omg, what days have come? Since when do we have to justify our election choices to a jute growing Lungi?

 

[Marshmallow]

wasnt Mr Ghandi with Palestinian struggle? I dont know but i read a quote by him some days back in favour of Palestine...

@levina @Ayush @arp2041 @Ravi Nair