India Sees the Encirclement of Israel in Egyptian-syrian Merger

The news of the proposed Egypt-Syria merger into a single Arab State has been received in the Indian capital with mixed feelings. It is believed here that if the Bagdad Pact had not been brought into existence, Egypt and Syria might not have made such a “countermove.” At the same time, some political observers say that the Egypt-Syria merger would mean practically the encirclement of Israel and the enlargement of the orbit of Soviet influence.

The daily “Pratap,” of New Delhi, a leading Indian language paper, comments: “The borders of Egypt and Syria nowhere meet each other and are separated by the territories of Israel and Jordan and to complete the merger Col. Nasser will have to try to seek the territories of either of the two countries.”