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Peres
backs India on J-K but for a reason
SONIA
TRIKHA
NEW DELHI, JANUARY 7:
Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres arrived in New Delhi
today to woo India’s support for the Middle East peace process
by offering unstinted Israeli support for India’s position
on the Kashmir issue. He immediately expressed solidarity
with the Indian position by calling upon Pakistan to end ‘‘all
forms of terrorism’’.
His support for India’s candidature
for the UN Security Council permanent seat, close on the heels
of similar support from Tony Blair, also drew cheers. But
his call for including India in NATO has caused some surprise
in the establishment. There was no response to the call today
and surprise that he should even bring it up.
A spokesperson for the Ministry
of External Affairs said that the statement would have to
be examined but added, ‘‘it is not a question of engaging
one bloc but to learn from the experiences each country may
have’’ in the fight against terrorism.
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Visit strange:
Iran
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| TEHRAN: Iran on Monday expressed
suspicion over Shimon Peres’s visit to India, calling
it ‘‘strange,’’ and said it was concerned about the Jewish
state’s activities in South Asia. ‘‘The Islamic Republic
of Iran is worried about the activities of the Zionist
regime in the region of the (Indian) sub-continent,’’
official news agency IRNA quoted Deputy Foreign Minister
Sadegh Kharazi as saying. ‘‘It is unacceptable that Israel,
with its designs, and in this strange way, becomes active
in the region,’’ Kharazi said. (Agencies) |
The visit is also likely to
finalise the sale of Israeli-built Phalcon airborne early
warning radar system to India. Sources said that the deal
was on the verge of being clinched and tensions between India
and Pakistan at the border can only hasten its closure.
In a sign of increasing cooperation
against terrorism, while Peres is meeting the Indian leadership
in New Delhi a Joint Working Group of the two countries on
terrorism is meeting in Israel. Tel Aviv has for long stressed
cooperation on security issues between the two nations.
Now, sources say, as India’s
stand-off with Pakistan continues, Peres will stress the need
for closer ties between New Delhi and Tel Aviv to fight the
common challenges of terrorist threats. Israel has unequivocally
supported India’s position with regard to Pakistan in global
fora, now as the US-brokered Middle East peace process regains
ground, Peres, the architect of the Oslo process, will be
calling on the Indian leadership to back its stand.
So far, Israel has been unhappy
with India’s mixed voting pattern at the United Nations and
its support for the Palestinians. Israel does not have diplomatic
ties with Pakistan and has consistently supported the Indian
position on Kashmir in the last few years.
Now it is seeking a quid pro
quo on the Palestinian issue by raising the shared terrorist
threats by both nations as common cause.
Israel, say sources, has launched
a charm offensive to gain India’s support and the fact that
Peres has visited New Delhi three times in just over a year
clearly indicates that. He stressed the commonality of India
and Israel’s security concerns by saying the world is no longer
divided into cultural blocs of east and west or even north-south
but into ‘‘countries that harbour terrorists and those which
fight them’’.
Peres is in New Delhi for
talks on the global war against terror and the Middle East
peace process. On the first day of his visit Peres met Home
Minister L.K. Advani and acknowledged that Pakistan has taken
some action against terrorist outfits but said it is necessary
that ‘‘all forms of terrorism are uprooted.’’
He will meet Prime Minister
A.B. Vajpayee, Minister for External Affairs Jaswant Singh
and Defence Minister George Fernandes tomorrow. He will then
travel to Bangalore for the CII partnership summit.
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