Israel-India in top-level talks on West Asia security dynamics: Azar

Highlighting the strategic depth of the ongoing bilateral dialogue, Ambassador of Israel to India, Reuven Azar, has underscored that both nations are maintaining high-level communication regarding the current regional operations. Azar noted that Israel remains committed to ensuring India is fully briefed on the security dynamics shifting across West Asia.

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In an interview with ANI, Ambassador Azar detailed the frequency of these diplomatic exchanges. "We have been having conversations at the top level, both of our Prime Minister and our Minister of Foreign Affairs. They have been updating the Indian government on the aims of this operation and about the situation of the operation. I'm sure that India is doing whatever it needs in order to meet its own interests," he stated.

Protecting Indian Expats and Regional Stability

The Ambassador pointed out that the neutralisation of specific regional threats is a prerequisite for safeguarding the millions of Indian expatriates contributing to the Gulf economy. "But the bottom line from our perspective is that once we have achieved the removal of these terrible threats that were looming over West Asia from Iran, a radical Islamic theocratic country that was pursuing a nuclear arsenal and also building thousands of ballistic missiles and hundreds of thousands of drones, that plan would undermine the stability of the region and would undermine the lives of 10 million Indians that are living in the Gulf region," Azar remarked.

IMEC's Viability Linked to Security Operations

Beyond immediate safety concerns, the envoy linked the success of these operations to the viability of long-term economic visions, such as the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC), which aims to turn the region into a global investment hub. He explained, "More importantly, they would undermine the great plans that we all have together with India to make West Asia an area that is attractive for investment, that is stable, and that can actually engage in projects of connectivity, especially since India has signed so many trade agreements that are going to increase the number of transactions and of merchandise that is going to move east and west. I think that there's a lot to gain from the change in conduct of this regime."

Security a Prerequisite for Economic Progress

Addressing the feasibility of the IMEC specifically, Azar was candid about the necessity of a stable security environment before such grand connectivity projects can fully materialise. "Any economic project has to lie on very solid security foundations and political foundations. Once we are able to solve this situation in which the area is so threatened by a radical regime, we will have consolidated the security regime that we need in order to have a solid security foundation. Then it will be much easier to get into political agreement, and then the economic dimension will come very fast," the Ambassador stated.

Azar further warned that economic progress cannot exist in a vacuum while "disruptive forces" remain active, emphasising that investor confidence is directly tied to regional peace. "We cannot fantasise that in an area that is constantly threatened by disruptive and malign forces like the Iranian regime that is invading other Arab countries and is trying to destroy a country in the region like Israel, that under those circumstances, we will be able to do economic projects, because investors will not come to a region that is threatened in such a way," he added. (ANI)