India is our true friend: Palestinian Authority

Rage

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India is our true friend: Palestinian Authority

8 May 2009, 0704 hrs IST, PTI


RAMALLAH: Appreciating India's "timely help" with USD one million worth humanitarian relief in the aftermath of the Gaza war and ten million dollars in budgetary assistance, the Palestinian Authority has called New Delhi a "true friend" of the Palestinians.

India was among the first to contribute the humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza through the United Nations Relief and Works Agency after Israel wreaked havoc on the civilians there during the December-January attacks.

"It (India) has proved itself a true friend and well wisher of the Palestinian masses by being among the first ones to provide the Palestinian Authority (PA) with budgetary support," Palestinian deputy Foreign Minister Ahmed Soboh said.

Speaking to PTI at a ceremony to lay the foundation stone of a multipurpose sports facility here being funded by IBSA (India, Brazil and South Africa), Soboh said the facility will help "channelise Palestinian youngsters energy in constructive activities".

The construction of the indoor facility, worth USD one million, will include a basketball, volleyball, soccer, tennis and handball courts.

The project is the first of a three year one million USDs per year pledge made at the Paris Donors conference by IBSA that includes the reconstruction and equipping of a high school in the Gaza Strip.


India is our true friend: Palestinian Authority - Middle East - World - The Times of India
 

SATISH

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For the last decade, India has pursued a policy of skillful ambiguity in the Middle East. It has adroitly pursued friendly relations with everyone: Israelis and Palestinians, Iranians and Saudis. While this performance should be applauded as a diplomatic tour de force, India’s nimble statecraft may not be sustainable if New Delhi seeks a greater global role commensurate with its capabilities. India has hedged its position on the two central crises — beyond Iran — that define the contemporary Middle East: the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons. Should New Delhi seek to maintain friendly relations with all of these parties, it will be difficult to stay relevant. Furthermore, such fence-sitting conflicts with India’s desire to be recognised as a global power.



To date, India and Israel appear to have reached quiet agreement on the Israeli-Palestinian issue. India provides firm rhetorical support to the Palestinian people, but continues to provide billions to Israel’s defense establishment. Already this year, the two countries reportedly have concluded their largest defense deal to date in which Israel will provide an air defense system to India for $1.4 billion. While public accounts are sketchy, Indo-Israeli counterterrorism and intelligence cooperation also appears robust, with recent press reports that such cooperation includes spy satellite collaboration. In Delhi, it is common to hear criticism of US support to Israel, although India is not without levers in its relationship. As Israel’s Ambassador to India David Danieli said in a 2006 interview, “India certainly can contribute by having a dialogue with Palestinians and with Israel. India maintains equally good relations with both. So the ears of both sides are certainly open to hear Indian views.” While India could wait and watch while others do the heavy lifting in the peace process, it is in a unique position to draw on historical goodwill and influence with both parties.
 

SATISH

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India also happens to have good relations and important economic ties with both Israel and Iran, the other hotspot likely to flare up in the coming months. Now that Benjamin Netanyahu has formed a government, there are renewed discussions of whether Israel should militarily strike the nascent Iranian nuclear programme. Israel’s decision will be influenced by whether it believes international diplomacy can prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear device. While India has an oft-stated position against additional nuclear powers in the region, it has been reluctant in using its influence to achieve that objective. This hesitance is due to a host of reasons, including India’s own nuclear legacy, the geopolitical and economic benefits that come with good Indo-Iranian relations, and its desire to avoid appearing as a US proxy. Stability in the Middle East — with implications for energy prices, remittance flows, and radicalism — is surely in India’s interest. If India seeks to avoid a nuclear Iran, but also to avoid an Israeli attack on Iran, how will it balance its relations with Tehran and Jerusalem during this critical period?



To date, India has masterfully balanced its competing partnerships in the Middle East. As India takes its rightful place on the global stage, empty rhetoric or studied ambiguity won’t withstand the increased scrutiny that comes with international prominence. India’s hedging on the Middle East seems particularly incompatible with its UN Security Council ambitions. By its very nature, the Security Council, a body whose work is dominated by the Middle East, requires tough “yes” or “no” decisions. The world will be watching as India determines whether it seeks to sit on the sidelines or seeks to influence the strategic orientation of that troubled region.

A fine balance
 

Known_Unknown

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Good relations with Israel does not necessarily mean bad relations with the Palestinians. We have a defence relationship with Israel because of our own needs, but that should not mean that we condone the atrocities that Israel has perpetrated on the Palestinians for the past 6 decades. Some people here are very passionate about issues involving natives being displaced from their land and living as refugees.....the Palestinians are the prime example of this. They have been refugees for the past 6 decades. Two entire generations have grown up in squalid conditions in refugee camps, all because Israel refuses to implement the very UN resolution that created it in the first place.

At the same time, we cannot break off ties with Israel entirely, because national interest triumphs altruism. We need Israel to provide us with certain advanced western technologies that Russia cannot, and that our adversaries do not have in their inventories, like the Phalcon. Also, India's purchases of Israeli arms have proven to be a massive revenue earner for Israel, more than all their other clients combined. So they're just as eager to sell us advanced weapons.
 

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