Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], April 28 (ANI): Consul General of Israel to Midwest India, Kobbi Shoshani, said on Monday that the terrorist attack in Kashmir that happened a few days ago is “unacceptable” and called the photos that emerged from there “heartbreaking.” He said that Pakistan needs to deal with the terrorist activities that they have carried out in Kashmir.
Speaking to ANI, Shoshani emphasised the good ties between India and Israel, calling it “unbreakable.” He stated that Israel and India need to fight against terrorism in a determined way.
On being asked about the recent terrorist attack in Pahalgam, he said, “First of all, the bond between India and Israel is unbreakable, and there is a lot of reason for that, the history, the tradition, the family importance, definitely the support that we got from India for many, many years, and I think that we give also our support as well. It’s a bond between people. It’s a bond between the government. It’s a bond between leaders as well. First of all, but above all. What we saw a few days ago in Kashmir is unacceptable. It’s something that we cannot stand aside as a human being, as friends, as brothers of India, and the photos that I’ve seen was heartbreaking, and I think that was very, very difficult even to watch it.”
As many as 26 people were killed and several others were injured after terrorists attacked tourists at Baisaran meadow in Pahalgam on April 22. Following the attack, India has taken strong countermeasures against Pakistan for its support of cross-border terrorism.
On being asked about Pakistan Peoples’s Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s ‘either water or blood will flow’ remarks, Shoshani responded, “I think that what’s happened first of all. I think that Pakistan needs to deal with the terror activities that they have carried out in Kashmir and….I think that’s my advice to the Pakistani government. I think that’s the only thing that I can say. I think India is playing in a very, very smart way, into diplomacy and relations with the people who are actually sending troops into their places. I mean to make such an event or massacre, I cannot even define it in a different way. It’s something unacceptable in my opinion.”
Following the terror attack in Pahalgam, the Central government announced several counter-measures against Pakistan, such as closing the Integrated Check Post (ICP) at Attari, suspending the SAARC Visa Exemption Scheme (SVES) for Pakistani nationals, giving them 40 hours to return to their country, and reducing the number of officers in the High Commissions on both sides. India also halted the Indus Waters Treaty signed in 1960 in the wake of the Pahalgam attack.
When asked about Israel and India facing the problem of terrorism, he said, “I have to tell you, India was born in 1947, but the roots are many, many years before, and Israel was born nine months after, right? By the way, from the same mother, England and since our first day, like you have a deportation plan and afterwards, you know, this war of independence, we have the same thing and terrorists didn’t stop to target Israel and India since 1947 in your case, in our case, even a little bit before and afterwards until today, it’s there is no 100 per cent success.”
“We have to remember that, but we have to fight in a very determined way to fight against terrorism because otherwise it will jump up and up and up. Then we have to put it at a certain level. I’m sorry to say something which people don’t like to hear. There is no 100%, I mean, terrorists will continue to succeed once in a while, but they have to know that if they do something, they’re going to pay them personally and their leaders, the payment and the punishment, that’s, that’s a very clear message,” he added.
He expressed his love for India and how he feels safe living here. He said that he wanted to travel to Kashmir after the terror attack, as terrorists don’t want people to live normally, and stressed that being a tourist in Kashmir is the only answer.
He said, “First of all, I’m Israeli. Then, for me, I think that it’s very, very safe, and I know that even in Israel, it’s very, very safe, and we know how to live along with, but I feel very, very safe. You touch my heart because I feel Mumbaiker this way or another. I love India very much. I feel safe, and I told you what my first reaction was when I heard about this massacre. I said, my time is to go right now as a tourist to Kashmir, that was the reaction and I think this should be the reaction because the terrorists don’t want us to live normally, and the only answer is to go and to be a tourist in Kashmir. That was my first reaction, but security-wise, I know that even the government didn’t allow me to go there, but if, if you ask me, I should be there.”
When asked about the difference in ties between India and Israel before 2014 and now, he said, “It’s a very big question. I have to tell you, I was not born in 1948. I mean, but it was very …relations between India and, between the government of India and the government of Israel for many, many years, because of a variety of issues. But since 2014, I have also been here since 1992 after the establishment of full diplomatic relations between the two nations. I came here and I saw the progress and since Modi visited Israel in 2017 after PM Netanyahu came to visit here in India, I saw the bond, but even in 1948, even in 1992, I was here in New Delhi, I came to New Delhi for a very short time for one year I was a young diplomat at our embassy there. I saw and I felt the love of the people between the two nations. There is a bond; there is something that I cannot even explain to you.” (ANI)
