Hours after Indian armed forces destroyed nine terrorist hideouts in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) in a 25-minute-long operation, Israeli Ambassador to India Reuven Azar on Wednesday said that the international community should not merely condemn terrorism but also take stronger and more coordinated action against it.Speaking to Network 18’s Managing Editor Palki Sharma, Azar said it’s dangerous to contextualise acts of terrorism and called for a more proactive stance to pursue those who are committing these crimes.STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD“I think that the international community should do more not only to condemn, to act against terrorism and there are many ways in which countries in the world can act against terrorism. They can pursue those who are committing these crimes,” he said.More from India
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‘Cooperate with India’: JD Vance to Pakistan as New Delhi looks to hunt down Pahalgam attack terrorists“They can prevent the proliferation of dangerous weapons. They can act in order to impede the dissemination of radical content in social media, in the electronic media. They can play a role in isolating radical elements,” he added.Azar stressed the importance of isolating extremist elements and bolstering moderate policies globally.“There are many things that we can do as states in the world and as much as we fail doing it, terrorism flourishes,” he added.On India’s precision operation, the first-of-its-kind conducted without crossing the Line of Control LoC, Azar described it as a clear demonstration of the country’s advancing defence capabilities and strategic maturity.“Well, this is not an easy challenge because these terrorists are becoming more and more violent and they commit more and more atrocities and there is no easy way to deter them. They are breaking any rule in the book, any norm of humanity and we, as democracies, we keep our standards, we keep our values and we are fighting this war with one hand tied behind our back,” he said.STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS ADAzar acknowledged the complex decisions faced by Indian leadership and praised their commitment to preventing future attacks.“I don’t envy the Indian government and the Indian decision makers and the security forces in their calculations, in the risk-taking, in the decisions to operate based on intelligence to achieve an efficient result and make sure that these terrible attacks don’t happen again. It’s a challenge and I trust the Indian government to meet the challenge. There’s a military war and there’s a narrative war and Israel has fought both for years,” he added.When asked about a flood of fake news being peddled from all kinds of handles and about those who are amplifying Pakistan’s narrative, Azar said it is extremely dangerous to contextualise terrorism or justify acts of violence.“Terrorism has to be condemned and has to be fought against and there’s nothing that can justify the murder of innocent lives and whoever justifies that I think is committing a major mistake not only morally but also tactically because this will come back to them. Terror knows no boundaries and when you start justifying terrorism or contextualising terrorism and you refrain from taking action against terrorism, you will be hit by terrorism,” said the ambassador.STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS ADAddressing the role of countries that have backed terrorist actors, Azar said countries should be very careful not only when it comes to meddling in other conflicts but also with ignoring the difference between legitimate conflicts and illegitimate measures that are being taken in the context of the conflict.“Because as much as you can have a cause, whether it is just or unjust, when you use terrorism and you kill innocent civilians in such an atrocious way, there is no room for any country to support such acts. And therefore, we have criticism when it comes to the support that Turkey has been given Hamas and, of course, that when they support other terrorist organisations, there is something that we look at in a very negative way,” he added.When asked whether Israel played any role in intelligence gathering or surveillance ahead of India’s operation, Azar clarified that while the two countries maintain strong security cooperation, Israel does not intervene in India’s operational matters.STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD“Israel and India cooperate broadly on security-related matters. We support each other in developing capabilities and sharing expertise,” he said. “However, we do not interfere in each other’s conflicts.”Pressed further on any specific intelligence-sharing related to the operation, Azar said, “In the context of this particular conflict, I am not aware of any specific cooperation. Our relationship is built on mutual respect as democracies facing similar threats, and each government is responsible for making decisions based on its own unique circumstances.”Early on Wednesday, Indian armed forces destroyed nine terrorist infrastructure including that of Jaish-e-Mohammad and Lashkar-e-Taiba in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) in a 25-minute-long “measured and “non-escalatory” missile and drone strike to avenge dastardly terror attack in Pahalgam.Under ‘Operation Sindoor’, the Indian military targeted Markaz Taiba of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) in Muridke, Markaz Subhan Allah of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) in Bahawalpur and Hizbul Mujahideen’s Mehmoona Joya Facility in Sialkot and LeT’s base in Markaz Ahle Hadith in Barnala and its camp in Muzaffarabad’s Shawai Nalla.The operation was conducted from 1:05 am to 1:30 am and all the targets were neutralised with clinical efficiency.With inputs from agenciesTagsIndiaIsraelPakistanEnd of Article
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