Incidents like terrorist attack on embassy will only bring India-Israel closest envoy Ron Malka

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New Delhi:Incidents like the low-intensity blast, which occurred immediately outside the Israeli Embassy on Friday evening, will only bring India and Israel “closer,” said Ron Malka, Israel’s ambassador to India.

In an interview with ThePrint, Malka said investigations into the incident were continuing in full swing and “the assumption is that the terrorist attack was intended to damage the Israeli Embassy”.

However, he noted, it is still unclear who was behind the blast.

As for who is behind the blast, we still do not know, the investigation is continuing by taking all the pieces together and building the puzzle and a clearer picture. Pieces of information and evidence have been gathered from the scene together. We hope the investigation will be finalized in the near future, Malka said.

The envoy stressed that Israeli officials stationed around the world are well aware that they are being targeted in the eyes of their enemies.

We are always prepared and always have security arrangements around us, which is good and reliable. In recent weeks due to an incident that has occurred all over the world and some of them have to do with Israel, we have even raised the level of preparedness. I can not say that we were surprised. The threat is always there and we are ready for it. And now that it happened, no one was lucky, everyone is safe. We are in complete control of the situation, he said.

Israeli spy agency Mossadis also includedin the investigation of the bomb blast together with Indian agencies and according to Malka, this kind of cooperation is not new and they have been in regular contact.

He added: “We still do not know if this was just a coincidence that this attack took place on the anniversary of full diplomatic relations between Israel and India.” That day we (Israel and India) completed 29 years of ever-increasing fruitful cooperation and a partnership that has reached the stage of a strategic partnership between the two countries.

Inalleged involvementof Iranian nationals, linked to an unidentified outfit named Jaish-ul-Hind, in the incident, the Israeli envoy said it could be an attempt to disrupt the growing strategic partnership between New Delhi and Jerusalem.

We are trying to figure out what those sites are (that are trying to break ties). Sure, 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 complete the investigation and then we will have a clearer picture. So we are very careful before making any assumptions, he said.

Tensions between Israel and Iran subsequently escalatedassassinationof senior Tehran nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh in November last year. Iranian President Hassan RouhaniblamedIsrael for killing the scientist.

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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 terrorist attacks, where Chabad House targeted a Jewish institution.

The envoy also noted that he did not see the bombing as a loss of intelligence by Indian agencies.

It (intelligence and information exchange) is based on mutual trust and mutual respect between Israel and India. Also, in counterterrorism, we share not only information but experience and practice. So it has been going on. The Indian authorities are conducting this investigation and they are handling it very well. Of course, if they need any information from Israel, I’m sure Israel will provide that information to complete this investigation, “he said.

Following Friday’s incident, the two countries’ foreign ministers and national security advisers also spoke to each other.

We feel very safe here in India. Ministers and the NSAs spoke and assured them that all measures would be taken to protect all Israelis in India and to complete the investigation in a proper manner. “These kinds of incidents bring us closer to a better partnership,” Malka said.

He added: “Whoever feels threatened by the expansion and flourishing of relations between Israel and India will not take his goal because we will expand it further and move forward together. We are getting strength from them even more than they are now.

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30 years of India-Israel diplomatic relationship

India and Israel completed 30 years of diplomatic ties in 2022 and Malka stressed that both countries were preparing to celebrate the monument.

India is a genuine and precious friend of Israel. We are also discussing many creative ideas on how we can expand connections. When something works so well, which is so rewarding and so rewarding, you want to have more of it. So that’s what we’re going to do about it, to have more in all sectors and all levels, he said.

He noted that from May onwards, Israel will have a Water Attaché deployed at the embassy to strengthen water management and co-operation in the agricultural sector between the two countries.

We now have 29 functional centers of excellence in agriculture. We will now take it to the next stage from the centers of excellence in the villages… We started a major water project at UP and once we complete this, it will be very successful and we will copy it across the country, Malka said.

He added: The relationship has a strong support for both our prime ministers. But now the relationship is between people and people. So many collaborations, so many commitments between companies and between people.

The Israeli ambassador also said that the two countries have come closer due to the Covid-19 pandemic with scientists from their respective defense ministries collaborating on various innovations and technologies in the healthcare sector.

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