[Assam] Islamist Hamas is India’s bedfellow, but, religiously unconcerned ULFA freedom fighters are terrorists!!

[Bartta Bistar]

*Shobori Ganguli/ New Delhi*



*India's position on Hamas, Iran worries Israel*

http://www.samachar.com/showurl.htm?rurl=http://www.dailypioneer.com/indexn12.asp?main_variable=front%5Fpage&file_name=story3%2Etxt&counter_img=3?headline=India's~position~on~Hamas,~Iran~worries~Israel


With dynamically changing strategic alliances the world over, it is
important to watch how a key global issue like terrorism is playing itself
out, particularly between countries like India and Israel which have a Joint
Working Group on counter-terrorism in place.



A meeting of the India-Israel JWG got underway in Jerusalem on Wednesday,
the Indian side headed by Additional Secretary (MEA) KC Singh and the
Israeli team by Miriam Ziv, chief of the strategic affairs division of the
Israel Foreign Office.



Ahead of the meeting, the Israelis are learnt to have expressed some
reservations over India's position on two issues that lie at the core of
their terror concerns - Iran and Hamas. Both question Israel's right to
exist. On the former, although Israel appreciates India's stand at the
international forum and respects New Delhi's nuanced criticism of Tehran
back home, it expects a more categorical condemnation of the radical
Ahmadinejad regime. As for Palestine, India's official acknowledgement of
the new Hamas Government is proving rather difficult for Israel to overlook.
These two issues are expected to come up at the JWG meet in Jerusalem.



While Israel never questioned India's equations with late Palestinian leader
Yasser Arafat, a meeting between India's representative to the Palestinian
Authority Om Prakash and the incoming Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail
Haniyeh has not gone down too well with Jerusalem. Two countries jointly
working against terrorism must understand each other's terror concerns,
Israel feels. There is a perception in Jerusalem that in acknowledging Hamas
leader Haniyeh's position as Prime Minister, India is lending legitimacy to
an outfit branded "terrorist" by its counter-terror partner Israel.



In the Israeli dictionary, Hamas, which recently assumed power in Palestine,
is the Palestinian wing of the Muslim Brotherhood, an outfit that must not
be granted political legitimacy by world capitals till it abandons its
policy of fulfilling its Islamist goals through terror activities. Even as
Israel gears up for the March 28 polls, acting Israeli premier Ehud Olmert,
slated to continue in office after the elections, has made it apparent that
while Israel would consider unilateral pullouts from the West Bank, the
Hamas cannot be a dialogue partner until it renounces violence, recognises
Israel and promises to honour existing peace agreements. Hamas has rejected
all three conditions.



The other issue, of course, is Iran. On this front Israel is more
"understanding" of India's position. Jerusalem acknowledges that at the
crucial International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Board of Governors meet
last September, India did vote with the West. Sources say Indian officials
in private admit Iran needs to be reined in but do not wish to be seen
publicly opposed to Iran, a position which would be difficult for the
Manmohan Singh Government to justify to its allies and the Opposition alike.
Ultimately, however, as a counter-terror partner, Israel expects India to be
more sensitive to its terror concerns, be it Haniyeh or Ahmadinejad.



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