Israel as we all know is an accidentally created territory born out of sheer necessity.
It came into being to avoid atrocities such as the persecutions of the holocaust of the Jewish people in Germany.
But ever since then there has been no looking back for the people who had capitalized upon conditions which were mostly unfavorable or hostile; its land for example was mostly barren with scarce resources. The Jews worked day and night to become a leading country of the world.
Israel has always had a very good relation with India per se. The primary reason could be that India, living up to its bedrock principle of believing in ‘Vasudev Kutumbh (welfare for all)’ has been the only country across the globe where the Jews have never faced any form of persecution.
Israeli population is spread across various places such as Kerala’s fort Kochi area to the Himalayan mountains running successful cafes in places such as Rishikesh, Kasol; they have a presence in the northeastern state of Mizoram.
Recently, a policy was made to lay the foundation of an Indo-Israeli Center of Excellence for Vegetable protected Cultivation at Khetri Assam. India and Israel had signed a MOU way back in 2006 namely the Indo-Israel Agricultural Project (IIAP) and the said foundation in Assam falls under that policy which has already benefitted different parts of India. For instance, as can be inferred from the success story of Gharaunda Center of Excellence of Haryana where with the aid of technology and some smart moves such as plug-seedling technique where a plant nursery was used to produce thousands of vegetable plug seedlings annually to produce vegetables such as capsicum, eggplant to name a few, each year there is a provision that both domestic and international companies test the quality of these hybrid seeds. Similarly, the success stories of Mango plantation at Dapoli Maharashtra can also be traced.
But how will it help a state like Assam? The answer lies in the very fact that although Assam is blessed with a green cover that yields a lot of crops the incessant monsoon rains damage most of this which leads to an acute shortage at that time of the year especially. Now there are certain crops such as the Ranjit Joha which is a monsoon crop and is grown with the rise in water level but other crops or vegetables do not share the same faith. Hence, as a result of this they are destroyed. So the modern techniques which the center of excellence will offer such as open field cultivation including mulching or the use of computerized irrigation and fertigation to utilize green energy which is the need of the hour and apart from that thorough research can be carried out for a better insight, especially for the farmers.
But one would wonder as to why this venture project should be supported? The answer lies in the very fact that Israel has always been a staunch supporter of India at all times in various sectors such as defence, hi- tech cooperation etc. For instance, during the Kargil War where due to the elevated terrains the Indian Army was finding it difficult to spot the Pakistani outposts, Israel came into action and provided aid to the Indian army such as providing precision bombing material, laser-guided missiles for IAF Mirage 2000H fighter and India with the help of its all-time ally Israel managed to adhere to the norms of not crossing the Line of control (LOC) and managed to defeat Pakistan. Even in the 1971 Liberation war Israel is known to have provided India with arms supply as it was facing shortage and it is known that the then PM Golda Meir is said to have taken that decision in favour of diplomatic relations with PM Indira Gandhi as has been opined by scholar Srinath Raghavan.
Apart from that, even from an economic point of view India and Israel have a good import and export relation for minerals, chemical products and with a whopping investment of US$ 73.7 million worth FDI investment of Israel into India. Apart from that research & development (R&D) has been another ground of commonality as signing of MOU on industrial research and development initiative, joint scientific and technological collaborations and setting up funds for the same such as the 2014 Indo-Israel cooperation fund etc. Even the giants of both countries such as Tata Industries and Ramot, an Israeli company, have entered into joint venture. The Israelis have welcomed Indian history and culture with open arms as there are chapters on Indian history and culture taught in Israel’s course books.
But why at all should we not oppose such a move and stand in solidarity with the decision? It has now become a general trend to oppose anything and every move of the government ever since the elections have come closer. From burning effigies, carrying out rallies in opposition has become a common sight. But this move is very much important for Assam as we need the kind of expertise which shall be offered by the center of excellence and it is a welcome move as the technology and the investment worth Rs 10.33 crores, along with sustainable technology will definitely help the farmers in yielding benefits and hopefully the goal of ‘access benefit sharing’ can be achieved which shall be beneficial for the state and the farmers as well.
Also, we need to understand that we have an estranged relation with most of our neighbours such as China, Pakistan, and recently Nepal. We should try to maintain the good relation or maintain a good status quo that we have with countries such as Israel which is currently a very powerful country which can be traced from the very fact that oil-rich countries like the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and also some of its neighbouring countries such as Bahrain and Sudan have extended their hand of friendship. As of now, we should take the setting up of this center or the contractual farming announced months back in a positive way and we should keep a check up on it but at least allow it to be set up. Indo-Israeli Center of Excellence for Vegetable protected Cultivation is already there in Adi Saptagram in Hoogli district of West Bengal which has similarities with the weather conditions of Assam up to a certain extent. Hence, as the center has benefited such places it should benefit Assam as well and authorities will have a rough idea about the geography, soil variety which will be beneficial.
(The author is currently practicing as an Advocate in Gauhati High Court. The views expressed in the article are his own.)