EXTERNAL affairs minister S.M. Krishna's visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories earlier this week was a landmark one. In this India displayed, for the first time, open even-handedness, compromising neither its core interests nor core beliefs. In Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, the minister candidly laid down the signifi-cance of India-Israel relations.... He stressed agriculture: this country has in recent years countedon Israeli aid in technologies and techniques relating to dryland farming..... The unmanned aerial vehicles and night-fighting equipment of Israeli make have vastly improved India's management of the border regions with Pakistan and enhanced our capabilities to neutralise infiltration by terrorist groups. It was therefore natural for Mr Krishna to mention anti-terrorism cooperation.... the two nations are also exploring the supply of gas from Israel, thus diversifying energy supply sources.

The external affairs minister was received with warmth inRamallah ... after his talks in the Israeli capital, indicating the importance the Palestinians attach to India's unflinching political support for their cause of 'an independent, sovereign and viable Palestinian state', to quote from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's speech at the United Nations General Assembly in September,where India made a strong pitch for granting Palestine UN membership in the face of opposition from theUnited States and its western allies. Friendship with both Israel and the Palestinians is not a zero-sum game.... This was underlined without blushing during Mr Krishna's recent sojourn. If it is important for various reasons to do business with Israel, it is no less necessary to uphold the principle of Palestinian rights and make efforts to give it practical shape. This indeed has been the approach ofseveral leading Islamic states in West Asia.... As India's economy expands and its security perceptions mature, so should its approach to various elements of the international community. — (Jan 14)