West Asian Peace

Sondhi Advocates Indian Participation

The Statesman, December 21, 1991

    Professor M.L. Sondhi, convener of the Sanskrit-Hebrew Society and member of the National Executive and Foreign Policy Cell of the Bharatiya Janata Party, today welcomed India’s “positive role” in the revocation of the UN resolution on Zionism but pointed out that “a deeper understanding of the national concerns and objectives of India requires immediate establishment of Ambassador-level diplomatic relations with Israel”.

    He said in a statement that the immediate task of bringing peace to West Asia requires an Indian participation and this cannot be achieved unless “we have full diplomatic relations with Israel, like we have with the Arab States”.

    “It is in India’s interests that a stable and secure peace should prevail in West Asia and, therefore, our participation in the peace process should be viewed as a contribution to security on our Western borders.  The Prime Minister should take into consideration the situation in which we find ourselves shot out of the West Asian peace process and take the logical step forward for upgrading the Indo-Israeli diplomatic relationship.  The step should be taken immediately as a positive solution to the urgent problem on the foreign policy agenda which does not brook any further delay,” he suggested.

    Prof. Sondhi said, “once full diplomatic relations are established, India may be able to persuade both sides to accept India’s constructive role in the peace dialogue and even offer New Delhi as a venue for Arab-Israeli talks.  This will be a significant milestone in the development of Indian diplomacy in the post-cold war world.”