New Delhi, March 6
Israel’s relationship with any country is not conditional and India’s steadfast commitment to peace serves Tel Aviv’s purpose. At the same time, the Israeli leadership strongly discounts suggestions that India has preferences regarding its ties with West Asia.

“Ten years of diplomatic relations between Israel and India is a fulfilment of a dream as there were no formal ties for 35 years,” Ambassador David Aphek said in an exclusive interview. “We are not a superpower and do not pose conditions as we want peaceful relations with all countries in the world.”

Mr Aphek said with the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1992, Israel-India ties were “politically more balanced, reasonable and acceptable”, which demonstrated the reality of the situation in West Asia. It is not one-sided and excellent. We do not complain. It is not a zero sum game and Israel is not a threat to the Arabs,” he said.

It was during the prime ministership of Mr P.V. Narasimha Rao that India took the step of establishing full diplomatic relations with Israel even though New Delhi had always recognised the existence of the Jewish state. In doing so, Mr Rao had consulted PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat and Israel did not find fault with that.

He described the bilateral relationship “between two electrifying countries” as being in “good shape and flourishing in various fields.

“India has a presence in our mind. The sky is the limit especially in agriculture, industry, information technology, energy and security-related matters. Hopefully, Israel-India trade will cross the $ 2 billion mark in another five years,” he said.

Emphasising that both countries pursued the same principles and policy in dealing with the scourge of terrorism, he said the bilateral dialogue in this regard was progressing well. “Israel has wanted peace for the past 50 years and has faced challenges all along. There can be no dialogue with a pistol pointed to our head,” he said.

In this context, he said: “I know what Kashmir means to India. We face the same problem. Israel and India can learn from each other of the technical devices in combating terrorism through sustained security cooperation.”

Mr Aphek maintained that it had been Israel’s consistent policy to stick to the goal of peace, stop violence and go to the negotiating table. “Only a table and two chairs will produce a result without using recourse to violence and bloodshed,” he said.

Acknowledging that the peace process in West Asia had been derailed, he blamed Mr Arafat for the present impasse and the suicide attacks. “Israelis are not a threat to the Arabs. At the same time, there can be no compromise on every Israeli’s right to live and the right to defend. It should not be forgotten that Israel’s six million Jews have to contend with 300 million Arabs. Therefore, the crucial issue depends on the ability of the Israelis to recover after a setback and come back strongly. Even though Mr Arafat might not want the disintegration of Israel, the “melody of peace is not ringing supreme.” Mr Aphek soid.

An expert on West Asia, having studied the situation closely for more than 40 years, Mr Aphek explains that the bottom line in Israel is “don’t kill us but counsel for coexistence under the same roof.”

“In sheer self-defence and strengthening the integrity of Israel, Israeli defence forces pursue interception of would-be assassins and get rid of them rather than being killed. These are natural preventive measures,” Mr Aphek said.

In pursuing talks for resolving problems, the Ambassador said: “We use the good offices of a third party. Sometimes, a facilitator helps but we negotiate ourselves. We are not empowering any other power to negotiate for us. Sometimes, having a facilitator might be the right way to move forward.”

Mr Aphek was quick in saying that he was not suggesting anything as far as India was concerned as New Delhi had ruled out third-party mediation in resolving the Kashmir issue with Pakistan. “It is for each nation to judge its tactics in keeping with the wishes and aspirations of its people,” he said.

The Ambassador also firmly discounted apprehensions in certain sections that Israel’s friendship with India was aimed against a third country or Pakistan. “This is far-fetched and has no foundation whatsoever. On the contrary, Israel would like to forge good relations with all including Pakistan,” he added.

While steering clear of dwelling on the defence relationship between the two countries, Mr Aphek stressed that there had been high-level exchanges between the two nations. That Israel attached due importance to having multi-faceted ties with India is evidenced by the fact that Foreign Minister Shimon Peres has visited this country thrice in the past 18 months.

New Delhi, March 6
Pakistan High Commissioner Ashraf Jahangir Qazi today asserted that his country “never intended” including the name of Union Home Minister L.K. Advani in any list of wanted people from India. However, Mr Qazi claimed that Islamabad was still collecting evidence to prepare a list of those wanted by it.