Mark Sofer, Israel’s Ambassador to India, is returning home after completing his tenure. During the four years he has spent in India, our bilateral relations with Israel have grown and branched into new areas of mutually beneficial cooperation
Four years after he arrived in India as Israel’s Ambassador, Mr Mark Sofer returns to his country, leaving behind a large number of friends and well-wishers and carrying with him happy memories of his stay here. During these four years India-Israel relations have gathered speed and branched into new areas of cooperation that are mutually beneficial. There has been a quantum leap in bilateral trade. Once the Free Trade Agreement is inked, hopefully by the end of 2011, trade could treble in a couple of years.
“I am returning to Israel with a great deal of optimism about our relations with India,” Mr Sofer told me when we met recently. “There are two reasons why I say this. First, there is tremendous goodwill across India towards the state of Israel. This goodwill is not just something that is spoken about, it is actually felt. Similarly, there is tremendous goodwill in Israel for India. Second, there is something special about India: It is the complete and utter lack of anti-Semitism. There is no a priori negative reaction towards Jews,” he said by way of elaboration.
To read excerpts from my conversation with Mark Sofer, click here.
Indians never had anti/semetism.It is due to Nethaji's connection towards Nazi Germany which forced not to recognise Israel initially.But even Nethaji or his followers never had anti semetism which includes Indian Muslims. Israel must show why still in India the oldest Jewish settlement in Cochin exists and why the second oldest Mosque in Keeranganallur exists next to that synagogue.
ReplyDeleteAnd in Europe there never was much discrimination of Dalits, Buddhists or Sikhs...
ReplyDeleteEvery country or culture has its own specific problems.
And I dont belive that many Muslims in India have a very positive attitude towards Israel or the Jews.
"And in Europe there never was much discrimination of Dalits, Buddhists or Sikhs...
ReplyDeleteEvery country or culture has its own specific problems."
Stop spreading BS.
What "discrimination" against Sikhs and Buddhists?
It is India which hosts all those Tibetan Buddhist refugees including the Dalai Lama.
When the Buddhist monks abandoned the Bodh Gaya temple after Muslim invasions, it was Brahmins who kept it running.
Sikhs are far more prosperous than Hindus, overrepresnted in the Army, the head of state is a Sikh, this is "discrmination"?