Israel backs India's right to defend itself from terrorist attacks, said an Israeli foreign ministry official on Tuesday, the Press Trust of India reported.
"We are both suffering from the same scourge. I really don't see any difference between the Lashkar-e-Taiba and the Hamas. I never did and I don't today. A terrorist is a terrorist," said Mark Sofer, the deputy director general of Israel's foreign ministry.
Sofer, who has also served as Israel's ambassador to India, said that Israel's "hook, line and sinker support on the subject of terrorism" for India was a fact never hidden by Israel.
"We are not asking for a quid pro quo. You have suffered from terrorism from inside India, and not just emanating from Pakistan, which has been seen in recent history," he said.
"We feel that India has a right to defend itself against terrorists in the same way Israel has a right to defend itself from terrorists," Sofer said in his statement.
"Killing people for some sort of spurious or inexplicable ideological aim is terrorism, however you look at it. And that is what is happening from outside into India and coming from outside into Israel as well," Sofer said, likening the situation in the two countries.
His statement comes ahead of a landmark visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Israel. It is going to be the first visit ever to the country by an Indian prime minister.
India has repeatedly accused Pakistan of promoting terror in India, an allegation Pakistan strongly denies.
