Friday, August 26, 2005

India rejects Arab conditions for UNSC seat, won't cut off ties with Israel

Thumbs up to India:

India rejects Arab conditions for UNSC seat, won't cut off ties with Israel

At a meeting in Amman, Jordan, two weeks ago, Arab envoys told the Indian special envoy, C.R.Gharekhan, that Arab states would support India’s permanent representation in the UN Security Council if it broke off relations with Israel, but this was flatly turned down. Top sources said that foreign minister Natwar Singh has been angered by the conditionalities imposed by countries willing to support Indian’s UNSC bid, and the Arab decision has irked him further, although that did not stop the Indian envoy from stating that India related to the Arab states and Israel on different planes, and one was not and could not be at the cost of the other. Foreign office officials said that Arab diplomats raised the issue in the context of resettling Palestinians in the Gaza Strip vacated by Israel, in which India has offered to assist with construction. The Arab diplomats pointed to the large number of Israeli delegations visiting India, and Gharekhan clarified that they were not all of political or military nature, but also related to agriculture, investments, and so on, and pointed out that the window provided for Arab investments in India ran dry. The Arabs said that together with terminating relations with Israel publicly, they expected India to involve in the Middle East peace process and raise regional concerns in the UN in return for support for Security Council membership, but this was unacceptable.

2 Comments:

At August 26, 2005 4:19 PM, Blogger Oscar in Kansas said...

In part this is because India deeply understands the Islamist threat. They have intimate experience with Islamist attacks. Remember the attack on the Indian parliment shortly after 9/11?

Indians had the sad honor of being the victims of the largest terror attack in the world before 9/11. Guess who was responsible? Dawood Ibrahim, an Islamic extremis and Muslim gangster with allies in the Pakistani government. In 1993 he set off 12 simultaneous car bombs in Bombay/Mubai that killed 300 people.

The Indians know what they are up against. They're smart people and recognize allies when they see them - the US and Israel.

 
At August 26, 2005 5:59 PM, Blogger Don Miguel said...

I believe Ik can clarify or confirm this, but it is my understanding that historically, India has suffered more deaths from "jihad" than anyone else.

 

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