India ♥ Israel – for now
Modi and Bibi seem very buddy-buddy (see the photos at the link, as well):
In a clear message to the region emphasizing the strength of their alliance, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged on Wednesday to work in lockstep to confront Islamist terrorism, with the Indian leader telling the Knesset in a historic address that his nation stands “firmly” with the Jewish state.
“India stands with Israel firmly with full conviction in this moment and beyond,” Modi told lawmakers during a special session in the Knesset honoring the Indian premier, the first time an Indian leader has addressed Israel’s parliament.
The two long-serving leaders have developed a famously close personal relationship — occasionally uncomfortably so — reflecting a strategic relationship that has been expanding steadily for decades. …
In the Knesset on Wednesday, Modi called Israel “a protective wall against barbarism,” echoing language that Netanyahu has used when speaking to Western audiences.
Netanyahu wants to create a regional alliance to counter Iran’s alliances.
From Modi:
The massacre of October 7 made it absolutely clear: either the jihadist axis of evil will break us, or we will break it …
If you want to learn more about the history of Israel/India relations, see this.
Good. Very good.
For the last several years I have thought the US needs to work on partnerships with other nations in order to contain and resist aggression from nations like China and more recently(?!?) Iran and yeah we can add Russia to the list. We especially need to be pals with India, the Philippines, Japan, and Indonesia. We cannot afford any unforced errors.
I think the India-Israel connection is likely to be long-term. Culturally, India has been very tolerant of Jews, Parsees, and other religious groups, particularly those who don’t proselytize; and India is very cognizant of the problems of Islamist violence, having a huge Muslim population. (Tolerance does not extend, culturally, to Christians. They proselytize, and are considered by the Hindutva groups to be a major threat to the Hindu nature of the nation.)
Kate:
My wife’s best friend (and my friend too) is a Catholic from the Bangalore region, with Portuguese ancestry going back maybe 600 years. She is the youngest in a large family, with several siblings who live here in America and several siblings (and uncounted cousins, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, etc., plus mother and father) who live in India. She was born and raised in India and has said that she never experienced problems with Hindus. As a child, growing up, she met and knew Mother Teresa, who would sometimes visit their home. She loves India and visits it as often as circumstances allow but is very firmly American, totally assimilated (lives in Chicago) with a Midwestern accent — but able to do a spot-on English-Hindu accent after being plied with a few glasses of wine. I get the impression from her that there is nothing “cultural” to being a native born Indian Christian, i.e. that there is Christian culture per se; rather, you are an Indian who happens to be a Christian, period. So, no conflict with Hindus, or with Sikhs, Parsees, Jains, whatever. She’s married to a Chicago born Irishman who can also do the Anglo-Indian accent, perfectly and hilariously (but respectfully, of course).
Islam proclaims its murderous nature and constantly demonstrates it. Just since 9/11, worldwide there have been nearly 70,000 jihadist attacks.
https://www.thecentersquare.com/national/article_ef050358-9d5a-432b-addf-a9e899490668.html
Indian Catholics tend to be from the higher-caste groups, having converted under Portuguese rule. Indian Protestants very often hail from disadvantaged castes and are not treated well.
Kate-
When was India under Portuguese rule?
Western India, Goa.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portuguese_India
There is also an indigenous Indian Christian church in far south India, believed to be established by the Apostle Thomas.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syro-Malabar_Church
@Kate:There is also an indigenous Indian Christian church in far south India, believed to be established by the Apostle Thomas.
I went to graduate school with an Indian woman whose family had been Christian for 500 years, I think through the Portuguese, but during the time I knew her she became a Protestant.
There were Nestorian Christians in China since at least the year 635. Christianity was exterminated and reestablished in China more than once.
The Greek successor kingdoms in India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan were instrumental in spreading Buddhism to China. Bodhidharma is sometimes described as a “blue-eyed barbarian” from the West. People got around more than we think.
Kate- India is a subcontinet, Goa is a tny sliver of land, not India proper.
@CICERO: Modern Goa is a tiny sliver, but the Portuguese had more than that, and client kingdoms.
Long Island is a tiny sliver; still part of USA proper.
Or not, depending on when the Communists secede.