Israel is trying to woo a reluctant India into accepting trade relations and technical assistance of a kind that Israel has provided to other Asian and African nations in the past. An intense courtship is being conducted by Israeli delegates to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development which opened here a week ago to develop a global strategy to help underdeveloped nations in the areas of commerce and industry.
India, so far, has been demonstrably cool to the idea of trade with or technical aid from Israel. New Delhi is anxious to maintain its good relations with the Arab states which she has consistently supported on the political level since last June’s Middle East war. though purportedly anxious at the same time, to steer clear of involvement in that region’s disputes.
The Israelis insist however, that despite India’s warm relationship with their Arab foes, nothing bars them from providing technical assistance to private firms in India or purchasing Indian goods. As a means of influencing New Delhi, the Israeli delegation has published a 40-huge booklet containing a pictorial history of Israel’s development in various fields and her technical cooperation with underdeveloped nations.
The Israeli delegation to UNCTAD, headed by Minister of Commerce and Industry Zeev Sharef and chaired by Ambassador Michael Comay, political advisor to the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem, brought up another big gun in the person of David Horowitz. Governor of the Bank of Israel. Mr. Horowitz arrived here to take up a leadership post with the delegation.
The Kenya delegation to UNCTAD has demanded a retraction and apology from Indian newspapers which reported that Kenya had been among the Asian, African and Communist bloc nations that walked out of the chamber when the Israeli delegation chief. Zeev Sharef, delivered his first speech last week. The acting head of the Kenyan delegation told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency today that there was no walk-out by his delegation and in fact there were two representatives of Kenya in the chamber when Mr. Sharef spoke. He said that Kenya wants to steer clear of involvement in the Arab-Israeli dispute.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
