As the Israel-Palestine conflict continues to escalate, one of Israel’s ally and close defense partner, India, has assured all possible support to the Jewish state, according to Indian sources.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi reiterated India’s solidarity with Israel during the October 10 phone call with his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss the escalating conflict in the Middle East. He stated that India “strongly and unequivocally condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations”.
Reports suggest that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, who had a crucial role in strengthening India-Israel security ties, assured all possible support to Israel during their phone talks with Israeli counterparts. However, the Indian media is reportedly awaiting an approval by officials to report the highest level interaction and request for weapons.
India media reports suggest that the country has plans to dispatch thousands of machine guns and ammunition to Israel in three transport planes being prepared to send to Israel to evacuate stranded Indians.
The development comes as India is in the process of arranging special flights to evacuate its citizens from the conflict zone. India’s External Affairs Ministry has said that it is working to bing back Indians stranded in his country.
India begins evacuating citizens
There are about 20,000 Indians in Israel and nearly one-third have registered with the Indian embassy ready to fly back home. New Delhi officials estimate that they have to send at least 40 cargo flights to bring back Indians. Israel’s Consul General in Mumbai Kobbi Shoshani confirmed that there are “more than 20,000 Indians” in Israel, however, he said that he was not aware of reports of death or injury to Indian civilians so far.
Several Bollywood actors who were attending a film festival in Israel were also among those stranded when Hamas launched its surprise attack on October 8 and Israel declared war. The conflict and bombings have killed at least 1,300 people killed in Israel and 2,268 Palestinians since October 7.
In response, India announced rescue mission named ‘Operation Ajay’ to bring back Indians stranded in war-torn Israel. Indian ambassador in Israel Sanjeev Singla said that the embassy was working to ensure the safety of Indian nationals. There are also some 85,000 Jews of Indian origin in Israel, according to the Indian embassy.
India’s first chartered flight brought over 200 Indian nationals back home from Ben Gurion Airport, Tel Aviv, on October 13, nearly a week after the latest Israel-Hamas war erupted. The second flight from Israel landed in New Delhi the next day, carrying as many as 235 Indian nationals.
India is currently relying on passenger aircraft to safely bring home citizens from Israel. To accelerate the repatriation process, Indian experts have suggested utilizing C-17A Globemaster, a heavy transport aircraft, which can carry up to 77 tons of cargo and can accommodate military vehicles, tanks and helicopters.
