Another angle on what I wrote about here. From the Jerusalem Post:
Dear Israeli friends: As you extend your hand of friendship to Pakistan, your friends in the Indian Diaspora are shaking their heads and wondering if Natan Sharansky was correct when he suggested that Israel has lost its moral compass.
Has Israel lost its moral clarity? We are wondering why your leaders, including those at the American Jewish Congress, are so ready to trade the Jewish people’s new courtship with India’s billion people, plus 25 million Diaspora Indians, for photo-ops and meaningless statements from Pakistan.
While no one doubts that these new overtures to Israel are within the strategic interests of Pakistan, it is difficult to see what specific benefits they will bring to Israel or Jews, and how they will improve the daily lives of Israelis.
Diaspora Indians like us have been working closely with members of the Jewish community and are actively encouraging stronger ties between our communities and countries. Let us acknowledge that the government of India can do much more to enhance our relationship with Israel — and it has been the goal of Diaspora Indians to encourage them to do just that.
We have much in common, not the least of which is our British heritage and our vibrant democracies. India has always provided a safe home for Jews. The problems of anti-Semitism which permeates the West and the Muslim world are not present in Hindu homes, or in our country.
As travel, trade and military cooperation unite us we quickly realize that Indians and Israelis can work together on issues of mutual self-interest. Safety and security, and our need to protect and defend our democratic values from radical Islamists seeking to destroy both our countries, certainly top this list.
Read it all.