Israel's Defence Minister, Mr. Moshe Ya'alon, on Thursday ( February 19) delivered the 6th R.K. Mishra Memorial Lecture, organised by Observer Research Foundation in memory of its Founder-Chairman.
6TH R.K.Mishra Memorial Lecture
Israel’s Defence Minister, Mr. Moshe Ya’alon, on Thursday ( February 19) delivered the 6
TH R.K.Mishra Memorial Lecture, organised by Observer Research Foundation in memory of its Founder-Chairman.
He offered all help and technology to make Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ’Make in India’ scheme a great success.
He expressed optimism that Mr. Modi’s vision of making India a global manufacturing hub will succeed.
Noting that Israel has rich experiences in turning disadvantages into advantages in many sectors like defence and security, agriculture, water, etc, Mr. Moshe Ya’alon offered his country’s experiences, technology and know-how in helping India advance further.
He said Israel, a tiny country which has fought enemies from all-around by developing new technologies to intercept rockets and missiles, can cooperate closely in the defence and security sector with its offers of flexible technology transfer.
"Sky is the limit", he said talking about the endless possibilities of mutual cooperation. He said both Israel and India respect each other and have common interests.
He made it very clear that India-Israel relations are not against any State. "It’s only for mutual benefit. It is not directed against anybody."
Mr. Moshe Ya’alon blamed Iran for the "endless chaos" in West Asia, accusing it of creating instability in the region - be it Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Lebanon and other countries.
Mr. Moshe Ya’alon said Iran was responsible for creating some elements in Afghanistan to destabilise the country with the help of money, weapons and training.
"Though all the elements are not supported by Iran, certainly some elements in Afghanistan are being supported by Iran," he said.
Talking about the "endless instability" in the region, Mr. Moshe Ya’alon said Israel does not believe, unlike some other countries, that democracy can be imposed through elections. The experiences in Iraq, Egypt and other states have reinforced this, he said.
Mr. Moshe Ya’alon said the Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1979 inspired most of these armed Islamic groups in the region to fight for military control and implementation of Islamic law.
He warned the West’s nuclear deal with Iran, in the near future, will be a "very bad deal" as even without nuclear capability, Iran and its groups were able to create chaos and instability in the region.
Mr. Moshe Ya’alon also blamed the US and the West for creating States artificially in the region following the World War-I and World War-II. He said Israel has learnt the lesson from the history not to patronise any State.
Earlier, welcoming Mr. Moshe Ya’alon, ORF Director Sunjoy Joshi said the RK Mishra Lecture series was conceived not just to commemorate the life of Mr R K Mishra, the founder-Chairman of ORF, but also as a testimony to his belief that think tanks and civil society institutions can help both for build and cement partnerships for a global and globalising India.
"In fact, the life of R K Mishra was a continued quest for progressive dialogue and sustainable reconciliation, of striving for excellence to achieve greater understanding and peace both within and without. A constant quest for bringing together people who thought differently from each other, belonged to diverse ideologies in an effort to help shape an India that could be at peace with itself and with the world," Mr. Joshi said.
R K Mishra, a former editor of the Patriot and the Link, became an M P in the Rajya Sabha and he served on the National Integration Council under the then Prime Minister Shri Rajiv Gandhi. He shouldered several critical roles during the Vajpayee administration, including critical back channel diplomacy with Pakistan.
Now ORF is celebrating its silver jubilee. It was set up during the time when the country was going through economic crisis in 1991 and was struggling to find a way out. ORF then came out with an economic agenda which became part of the liberalization process.
Delivering the vote of thanks, Trustee of ORF and a noted Supreme Court lawyer, Mr Lalit Bhasin said while Indians are generally optimistic about relations with Israel, the Minister has set the bar high and we are confident of the ability of both our countries to reach this.
He said the Israeli engagement with India is much more than just war and security. "It is about our youth, about our poor, about our farmers and our youth, in short it is an aspirational relationship that has its eyes firmly focussed on the future," Mr Bhasin said.
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Welcome remarks by Sunjoy Joshi
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Lecture by Mr Moshe Ya’alon
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Vote of Thanks by Lalit Bhasin
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