New Delhi: Spain has refused port call to a Danish-flagged merchant vessel carrying “27 tonnes of explosive material from India to Israel” saying the middle east “requires peace and not more weapons”.
“This is the first time we have done this because it is the first time we have detected a ship carrying a shipment of arms to Israel that wants to call at a Spanish port,” Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares Bueno told reporters in Brussels.
He said that the ship in question was Marianne Danica which had requested permission to call at Cartagena on 21 May.
Permissions to call are requested by merchant vessels travelling long distances for replenishments.
“We have detected this ship, we have refused to allow it to dock, and I can tell you that this will be a consistent policy with any ship carrying Israeli arms and arms cargo that wants to dock in Spanish ports,” he was quoted as saying in media reports emerging from Spain.
El Pais newspaper said the Danish-flagged ship is carrying 27 tonnes of explosive material from Chennai in India to the port of Haifa in Israel, The Guardian reported.
Incidentally, Chennai is one of the main port cities through which India imports and exports explosive-related stuff.
Speaking further on the matter, the Spanish foreign minister said, “This will be a consistent policy with any ship carrying arms to Israel that wants to call at Spanish ports. The foreign ministry will systematically reject such stopovers for one obvious reason: the Middle East does not need more weapons, it needs more peace.”
Spain has been very critical of Israel’s offensive in Gaza and is rallying other European countries to recognise a Palestinian state.
Spain halted arms sales to Israel after it launched a military onslaught against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
While India is Israel’s biggest defence buyer, it is understood that Israel is sourcing several military-related materials from India, including from state-owned enterprises and from private companies Israeli firms have partnerships with in India.
The military-related gear includes fuses, munitions along with composite structures of drones and loitering munitions from at least two private firms in India besides completely assembled ones.
Reuters had in February reported, quoting Israeli sources, that “Israel’s operations have created a growing need for ammunition”.
India has been focusing big on increasing its defence production and is pursuing several export opportunities.
Sources in the defence and security establishment refused to get into details of whether India is exporting military related equipment and material to Israel but said that there is no violation of international rules and regulations governing transfer of such goods to anywhere.
(Edited by Zinnia Ray Chaudhuri)
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