To balance Minister’s trip to Arafat, PM sits with US Jewish leaders

Ahamed also visited the Al Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, which is cheek by jowl with the Wailing Wall, the ancient sacred site of the Jewish faith. But he never met a single Israeli official as part of that tour.

The PM’s meeting today with the American-Jewish community was intended to send a signal both to Israel and to the very rich, influential community in the US that the new Congress government was not ‘‘abandoning’’ its very special and painstakingly constructed relationship with them.

The American-Jewish Committee and other Jewish leaders are the only private American group to have met the Prime Minister on this trip.

His two other private encounters have a strong India connection: a meeting with NRI honchos and an Indian community reception being hosted by the overseas wing of the Congress. All his other appointments have been bilaterals with world leaders or addresses at multilateral forums like the UNGA and NYSE.

The PM’s meeting with the Jewish community in New York is now being played as an attempt to ‘‘restore balance’’ after Ahamed’s visit to Palestine. New Delhi realises that Israel continues to play a very important part in national development, especially in the Defence sector, where it has transferred very sensitive technology to India in the teeth of American opposition.

On the other hand, soon after the Congress came to power, it also sought to deliberately correct the impression strongly prevalent during the BJP administration that India had ‘‘abandoned its traditional friends in the Arab world, including Palestine.’’ So Ahamed was sent to Palestine with a message that New Delhi remembered well its past friendships.

The signal from today’s meeting is not only a ‘‘correction’’ but also one that looks into the future. Sources here also stressed that New Delhi was only following the example of a number of Arab nations, such as Jordan, which has been able to nicely keep its traditional ties with Palestine intact while building a brave new relationship with Israel.