Prime Minister Narendra Modi told Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday that the “people of India stand firmly with Israel in this difficult hour”, when the Israeli premier dialled him to provide an update on the evolving situation in the Levant.
“I thank Prime Minister @netanyahu for his phone call and providing an update on the ongoing situation. People of India stand firmly with Israel in this difficult hour. India strongly and unequivocally condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations,” Modi posted on X about the conversation.
The external affairs ministry in its readout on the conversation said the two premiers also discussed the safety and security of Indians in Israel. Netanyahu assured full cooperation and support, the ministry said.
Around 18,000 Indians live in Israel. They are primarily caregivers employed by Israeli elders, diamond traders, IT professionals and students. Though several foreign nationals have died in the violence and aerial bombings since Saturday, there have been no reports of any Indian being injured till date.
This is the second statement by Modi since Saturday’s developments, when Hamas breached the famed Israeli security apparatus. In his first remarks on the Hamas action, the Prime Minister had called it “terrorist action” but did not name the Palestinian Islamist group.
“Deeply shocked by the news of terrorist attacks in Israel. Our thoughts and prayers are with the innocent victims and their families. We stand in solidarity with Israel at this difficult hour,” Modi had posted on X on Saturday.
With the external affairs ministry yet to comment on the evolving situation in West Asia, the Prime Minister’s brief posts on X are being seen as policy statements and a further shift away from India’s historically pro-Palestine stance, warming the cockles of the Right-wing ecosystem.
However, Talmiz Ahmad, a retired career diplomat who has written several books on West Asia, having served in several countries of the region, insisted that there was no shift at all in India’s stand, maintaining that too much should not be read into the two posts.
He told The Telegraph that Modi’s post on Tuesday on the conversation was an instance of the Prime Minister attempting a course correction after what he said on Saturday in the immediate aftermath of the Hamas operation against Israel, the ideological connect and his own equation with Netanyahu.
“The first post was a spontaneous expression of solidarity formulated in the initial shock. That has since been corrected in today’s post,” Ahmad explained, stating that the formulation “strongly and unequivocally condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations” can be found in almost every second joint statement. “This is an innocuous remark. Who does not officially condemn terrorism?” Ahmad said.