Indian envoys to discuss West Asia situation

JERUSALEM, DEC. 3. India would hold a meeting of its ambassadors in the West Asia to discuss the situation in the region, which had witnessed renewed clashes between Israelis and Palestinians. ``India has very serious interests and concerns in the region...We are soon having a meeting of some of our ambassadors in the region to exchange notes and ideas and to get their assessment of the situation,'' Mr. K. V. Rajan, secretary (East) in the External Affairs Ministry said.

Ambassadors from Israel, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, head of mission in Egypt and India's representative in Gaza would hold talks with the senior External Affairs Ministry officials on West Asia, Mr. Rajan, who is leading a delegation to hold annual consultations with Israeli Foreign Ministry officials, told presspersons here.

The meetings of the Indian diplomats would follow the delegation's meeting with Israeli and Palestinian officials, he said.

Indian and Israeli officials would discuss bilateral relations and other mutual issues.

To a question on whether Palestine has sought India's participation in the proposed UN Forces to be deployed in west bank and Gaza, he said the first step was to get both sides to agree on the request.

``As far as we know the UN has itself pointed that without such an agreement it is difficult to come forward but this is an issue which is on the table and I think it is being discussed,'' Mr. Rajan said.

About cooperation in the field of counter-terrorism between India and Israel, he said a joint working group had been set up on the issue but it had not met as yet. ``We expect the meeting to take place very soon,'' he said but clarified that discussions on counter-terrorism was not the main objective of the current round of discussions.

The senior Foreign Ministry official said the nature of cooperation with Israel on counter-terrorism was not political in nature but it was``basically technical as Israel has gained considerable expertise in countering terrorism. We want to share that expertise and we have similar exchanges with other countries''.

Issues discussed during the External Affairs Minister, Mr. Jaswant Singh's meeting with his counterpart, the then Foreign Minister, Mr. David levy, would also be taken up during the meet, he added.

During the meeting between two Foreign Ministers, it was agreed that national security councils of the two countries would meet regularly to work out strategies to counter terrorism. India and Israel are working out details for establishing a dialogue on counter-terrorism and details are being worked out in both the countries.

India has signed bilateral agreements to combat organised crime and international terrorism with Bulgaria, Egypt, China, Italy, Oman, Romania and Russia.

Full-fledged diplomatic ties between India and Israel were established in 1992 for the first time and the bilateral trade between the two countries has reached about $1 billion. India and Israel are also partners in defence cooperation and while Delhi is believed to have already bought a number of high-tech defence equipments from Tel Aviv in recent years, a number of deals are underway, including the controversial Phalcon sale.

Israel is the 12th largest foreign investor in India with approved investments of over $1 billion. Indian exports to Israel have diversified in recent years and the total bilateral trade has reached $ 994 million in 1999, five times higher than when diplomatic ties were established in 1992.

- PTI

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Section  : International
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