After weeks of conflicting messages, the Indian government advised Israel Tuesday that it would not grant visas to Israel Tuesday that it would not grant visas to Israeli players to participate in the world table tennis championship tournament in New Delhi next week.
The message was conveyed by the Table Tennis Federation of India (TIFI) to the Israel Table Tennis Association. For the past several weeks, TIFI has been informing Israel that its team would be allowed to participate and then that it would not be. India refused to allow the Israelis to come to the Ninth Asian Games in New Delhi in 1982 or to compete in the world table tennis championships in Calcutta in 1975.
Now, as in the past, the Indians were acting under Arab pressure. Teams representing six Arab countries and the Palestine Liberation Organization said last month they would boycott the games if an Israeli team was admitted. They were backed at a meeting of 17 Arab Ambassadors and Consular officials at the Arab League office in New Delhi.
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