Israel a reliable partner: Sushma Swaraj

Jerusalem, April 02: Describing Left's opposition to India's strategic relationship with Israel as an extension of its "anti-US" stance, senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj has said that the Jewish state was a "reliable partner", and that the current government acknowledged it. "The Left parties are basically anti-US and therefore all those countries which are seen as allies of Washington are disliked by them. They do not like whatever America does while we look at things on a case to case basis with regard to the United States," Swaraj, on a three-day visit to Israel as the chairperson of Indo-Israel Parliamentary Friendship Group, said. "We are not anti-US in principle but we oppose its policies which are against India's interest. We do not oppose anything just because it is done by America," she said. Swaraj stressed that ruling Congress-led government had not compromised on the "continuity in the foreign policy" with regard to ties with Israel despite pressures from Left. Lauding Israel for "demonstrating its reliability during the Kargil War", the BJP leader said that India felt confident that its trust won't be let down. "This is also one of the reasons why the current government has not accepted the demands of the Left parties", she said, adding that the concerns of Communists could not be seen as "legitimate". The Left parties have been constantly asking the UPA government to severe military ties with Israel. However, as of now, India stands as the largest buyer of Israeli arms and the chiefs of the three defence forces have also visited the country during the last two years. Highlighting a strong economic relationship between the two nations, Swaraj said that bilateral trade between the two countries had registered an impressive growth reaching the USD 3.3 billion-mark. Also, the recent visit by Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, who was accompanied by chief ministers of three states, had seen an enhanced cooperation in the sector where India can benefit a lot from the Israeli experience, she said. The Indian legislator held wide-ranging discussions with her Israeli counterpart Isaac Ben and other lawmakers including Michael Eitan and former Deputy Defence Minister Ephraim Sneh. "There is a lot of warmth in relationship between the two countries which were clearly reflected in all my meetings", Swaraj said, adding that BJP had backed diplomatic ties with Israel since Jan Sangh days. She also rejected the charge that NDA government had "bowed down to pressures" in the Kandahar episode. Asked why the government didn't do an 'entebbe' kind of a rescue, the senior BJP leader said "the two incidents cannot be seen in the same context". Bureau Report

Post comment Alert Moderator

Your comment(s) on this article

Among the big mistakes of Indian Foreign Policy under the long Congress regime since independence was its anti-Israel stance to appease its Muslim vote bank in India. If India had recognized Israel immediately after independence, two burning issues in India today would not have arisen - suicide of farmers and Islamic terrorism. Israel would have been a reliable partner in modernizing Indian agriculture and by now India would have become an agricultural superpower instead of the situation wherein our farmers are committing suicide even after the short-sighted Congress government of today is writing off farmers’ loans. Also, India would not have been compelled to become a weak state by appeasing to Islamic vote banks, which began by not recognizing democratic Israel and instead supporting the pro-Pakistan Arabs. - K.Venugopal - Mumbai