New Delhi: Incidents like the low-intensity blast, which took place right outside the Israel Embassy Friday evening, will only bring India and Israel “closer”, said Ron Malka, Israel’s ambassador to India.
In an interview to ThePrint, Malka said that investigations into the incident were going on in full swing and “the assumption is that the terror attack was meant to harm the Israel Embassy”.
However, he noted, there is still no clarity on who was behind the blast.
“As far as who is standing behind the blast we still don’t know, the investigation is ongoing taking all the pieces together and building the puzzle and more clear picture. Pieces of information and evidence are gathered from the scene together. Hopefully the investigation will be finalised in the coming future,” said Malka.
The envoy stressed that Israeli officials stationed across the world are well aware that they are considered as “targets in the eyes of their enemies”.
“We are always prepared and we always have security arrangements around us, which is good and trustful … In the last weeks due to some incident that happened around the world and some of them are related to Israel, we have even raised the level of alert. I cannot say that we were surprised. The threat is always there and we are ready for it. And now that it’s happened, it’s fortunate nobody is hurt, everybody is safe. We are in full control of the situation,” he said.
Israeli spy agency Mossad has also become involved in the bomb blast probe along with Indian agencies and according to Malka, this kind of collaboration is not new and they have been in touch on a regular basis.
He added: “We still don’t know if this was just a coincidence that this attack took place at the anniversary of the full diplomatic relations between Israel and India. That day we (Israel and India) completed 29 years of fruitful collaboration that is steadily growing and a partnership that has reached the stage of a strategic partnership between both the countries.”
On the alleged involvement of Iranian nationals, connected to an unknown outfit called Jaish-ul-Hind, in the incident, the Israeli envoy said this could be an attempt to disrupt the growing strategic partnership between New Delhi and Jerusalem.
“We are trying to figure out which are those countries (that are trying to disrupt the ties). Of course, there are some immediate suspects but our experience tells us we should not jump to conclusions. We are looking at all the options. We need to finalise the investigation and then we will have a clearer picture. So we are very careful now before we make any assumptions,” he said.
Tensions between Israel and Iran soared after the assassination of Tehran’s top nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh in November last year. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani blamed Israel for the scientist’s killing.
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‘We feel very safe in India’
According to Malka, the information-sharing mechanism between India and Israel went from strength to strength after the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks where Chabad House — a Jewish establishment — was targetted.
The envoy also noted that he did not see the bombing as an intelligence lapse by Indian agencies.
“It (intelligence and information-sharing) is based on mutual trust and mutual respect between Israel and India. Also, in counterterrorism, we share not only information but experience and practise. So it’s been ongoing. Indian authorities are conducting this probe and they are addressing it very well. Of course, if they need any information from Israel, I am sure Israel will provide that information to finalise this investigation,” he said.
After the incident Friday, the foreign ministers of both countries and the national security advisors have also spoken to each other.
“We feel very safe here in India. The Ministers and NSAs spoke and assured them that all measures will be taken to protect all Israelis in India and finalise the investigation in a proper way. These kind of incidents bring us closer with better partnership,” said Malka.
He added: “Whoever feels threatened by the expanding and flourishing relations between Israel and India will not get its target because we are going to expand it further and we will prosper together. We are drawing strength from them even more than what they are now.”
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30 years of India-Israel diplomatic ties
India and Israel complete 30 years of diplomatic ties in 2022 and Malka highlighted that both countries were gearing up to celebrate the landmark.
“India is a genuine and precious friend of Israel. We are also discussing many creative ideas on how we can expand the ties. When something works so well, which is so rewarding and so fruitful, you want to have more of it. So that’s what we are going to do about it, to have more of it in all sectors and all levels,” he said.
He noted that from May onwards, Israel will have a ‘Water Attache’ based in the embassy to strengthen water management and cooperation in the agriculture sector between both the countries.
“We now have 29 functioning centres of excellence in agriculture. We are now going to take it to the next stage from centres of excellence to the villages … We started a flagship water project in UP and once we conclude this one, this will be very successful and we will replicate it across the country,” Malka said.
He added: “The relationship has a strong backing of both our prime ministers. But now the relationship is between people to people. So many collaborations, so many engagements between companies and between people.”
The Israeli ambassador also said that both countries have grown closer due to the Covid-19 pandemic with scientists from their respective defence ministries collaborating on various innovations and technologies in the healthcare sector.
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