India has played an important role in the United Nations’ Arab-Israeli peace efforts.
When the conflict between Israel and Palestine was going on in Gaza between the 1950s and 1960s, India sent a strong contingent of the Indian Army to the United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF).
At that time the relations between India and Israel had come to a critical point.
Relations between the two countries reached a new low on May 19, 1960, when Israeli Air Force aircraft intercepted a United Nations aircraft carrying Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. Nehru was then going to visit Gaza.
Appeal for help from Israel
In fact, India has been a supporter of the Palestine issue since the tenure of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. Because of this, India also had good relations with the Muslim countries of the Arab world, but when war broke out between India and China in 1962, Nehru bypassed the Muslim countries of the Arab world and sought help from Israel.
According to documents in the Israeli archives in Jerusalem, in 1962, when India-China hostilities reached their peak, Pandit Nehru wrote a letter to Israeli Prime Minister David Ben Gurion seeking help in supplying arms from Israel.
According to ‘The Hindu’ report, in a letter written to Ben Gurion on November 18, 1962, Nehru writes, “We are grateful for your concern and sympathy for the serious situation we are facing today in our border areas. Are.
I am sure you will appreciate that India has never claimed even an inch of land from any other country and traditionally and fundamentally we are committed to the ideals of peace and amicable resolution of disputes.
“It is our utmost responsibility to maintain national integrity and respect for international standards of conduct.”
Correspondence between the two Prime Ministers
There was correspondence between the two leaders during the India-China war that lasted from 20 October to 21 November 1962. Nehru sent the first letter to the Israeli Prime Minister on October 27, 1962, to which the Israeli leader replied on November 2, 1962.
In this letter he wrote, “All our efforts are for the preservation of peace in the region and in the entire world. Our capital Jerusalem means city of peace in Hebrew.”
Gurion wrote, “I fully agree with the views expressed by His Excellency that it is our responsibility to do everything in our power to establish peace. All states, big and small, should be guaranteed their sovereignty.
We believe that every possible support should be given to every measure that contributes to reducing tensions on your borders so that India can once again be able to devote its undivided energy to construction and development under your distinguished leadership.”
‘No flag, no weapon’
The message was conveyed to the Prime Minister’s Office by the Israeli Consul General in Bombay, Arieh Ilan, who was staying at the Ashoka Hotel in New Delhi at the time.
The same note also reveals that India had procured weapons from Israel during the war with China. The report said that India had then requested Israel to deliver weapons in ships that were not flying Israeli flags.
The report said that Israeli Prime Minister Ben Gurion had then refused to supply weapons, saying that if there was no Israeli flag on the ship, then Israeli weapons would not go. Ultimately the Jewish state supplied arms to India through Israeli flagged ships.
Nehru’s cousin helped
Records show that Israel was in close contact not only with Nehru but also with his cousin Brijlal Nehru (BL Nehru), who was then India’s ambassador to the United States.
BL Nehru, had lobbied at length with the Jews in Washington to facilitate the necessary discussion between the two sides.
Actually, India did not want to anger the Arab countries at that time compared to Israel. Therefore, to help in the war against China, unflagged ships were asked to supply weapons.