NEW DELHI: AS Israel wages war against the cataclysmic Hamas terror strikes against its people, India stands with it rock solid. It was among the first countries to respond when reports of the blood-curdling attacks shook Israel, and conscience of the civilised world, on October 7.
Even as Israel’s oldest allies in the US and the West mulled their response, Prime Minister Narendra Modi rang up his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu to offer India’s solicitation and unequivocal support.
The Israel’s PM has acknowledged how valuable India’s stand is by keeping PM Modi updated about the follow-up events despite his preoccupation with the security operations.
PM Modi’s swift response is consonance with his commitment to wipe out terrorism, not just from India, but from the face of the earth. He has been repeatedly calling from various domestic and multilateral forums for the need to end all forms of terrorism, including terror-funding,
Dysfunctional UN
Though most of the civilised world stands by Israel in its hour of crisis, India under PM Modi stands out for its clear stand that there should be zero-tolerance for terrorism in any form. This is important in today’s conflicted world, where politics of convenience has forced some
India sides with Israel in its war against Hamas
countries to adopt double standards in the war against global terror and organisations like the United Nations have been rendered dysfunctional.
War is a notoriously uncertain business and Israel’s war against Hamas and allied terrorist groups may be long and protracted. It may also cause collateral damage, as all wars do, but that is no reason to stop the global war against terrorism.
Organisations like Hamas and Hezbollah in the Middle East, or Taliban and Lashkare-Toiba in the Indo-Pacific, are not just terrorist groups. They are para-state organisations, more powerful than some states. They respect no rule of law and civilised behaviour. As India has realised at bitter cost, cross-border terrorism cannot be defeated by conventional methods. This has been proved by repeated failures of the UN Counter-Terrorism Architecture in the past. India has always demanded that this should change.
Under PM Narendra Modi, India has taken a principled stand. For nation states, this is not an era of war and political disputes; there’s call for resolution through dialogue. But terror groups like Hamas, which represent no nationality, no faith and no ideology; they have to be eliminated and rooted out.
A no-holds-barred war against global terrorism is the only way to ensure world peace and sustainable development.
In the context of the recent RussiaUkraine conflict, India has taken a principled stand that is respected by rival powers in the world. It has demonstrated its intent to do so in the ongoing conflagration also.
