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Journalism of Courage
Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Silvan Shalom today said Tel Aviv will soon be reopening its consulate in Mumbai which it had shut last year, apparently due to budgetary constraints.
Shalom, who has decided to cut short his visit by a day and plans to leave for Tel Aviv on Wednesday night, held talks with Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani and External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha today. Later during a brief interaction with the media, he said Israel was ‘‘concerned’’ by the recent revealations in Pakistan on the transfer of nuclear technology to Libya and North Korea.
According to Shalom, Israel felt that the possibility of weapons of mass destruction coming into hands of terrorist groups posed a global threat and that it was in favour of ‘‘disarming regimes which threatened to use such weapons on their neighbours’’.
He did not specifically comment on Pakistan, except for expressing concern over the revelations.
Sinha said talks between the two leaders were comprehensive as both sides took note of the fact that the relationship between India and Israel had expanded beyond trade, to science and technology, culture, defence and people-to-people contact. ‘‘This is the second decade of India-Israel relations,’’ he pointed out while welcoming the Israeli delegation.
Both leaders exchanged views on the developments in South Asia and West Asia. Shalom said this was his first visit to India and he was pleased by the tremendous growth in bilateral relations.
The Israeli Deputy PM is slated to meet President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee and Defence Minister George Fernandes on Wednesday. Shalom also extended an invitation to Sinha for a visit to Israel.
