By IndiaTomorrow.net,
New Delhi, 15 Oct 2015: President of India Pranab Mukherjee, during his ongoing visit to Israel and Palestine, faced an awkward situation when the Israeli government blocked a part of India’s gift to Palestine. Some items of IT equipment were to be given to the India-Palestine Centre for Excellence in Information and Communication Technology at the Al-Quds University in Ramallah. Thirty computers were forwarded but four communication systems were held up by the Israeli customs just before the inauguration of the centre.
Reason? The communication equipment had devices which ran on frequencies banned in Israel. Spokesperson in India’s External Affairs Ministry Vikas Swarup said: “Four communication devices which have certain frequencies which were not allowed in Israel under their regulations have not been permitted. We will substitute them with other communication devices which have different (frequencies)”. Thus India’s last-minute efforts to get the communication systems released in time for the inauguration of the centre at Al-Quds University failed and the Israeli position prevailed which was: ‘’Like Indian laws do not permit satellite phones being carried into their territory, there are technical issues around frequencies involved in the communication systems that do not pass our legal requirements”.
However, there are a few questions that still remain unanswered.
Had the concerned ministry of India got any prior approval from Israel regarding the equipment? What is the standard procedure when such equipment is gifted to other countries during visits by heads of state? Could Israel have allowed the four communication systems to reach the University temporarily just to avoid the irritant during the historic visit of the Indian President – first by an Indian president to the region?
What was the communication equipment which Israel blocked is yet to be known. Were the communication systems simple modems, multiplexers, routers to demonstrate internet technology to the Palestinian students or was the equipment of such nature that could be misused by Palestinians for their resistance against Israeli occupation? Typically internet communication systems are universal and no special or country-specific frequencies are involved. So unless one knows exactly which communication systems went along those computers, it is difficult to arrive at a fair conclusion.
However, what seems disturbing is the manner in which India was made to eat humble pie before the Israeli position. The reaction of the mainstream Indian media to this deplorable incident was almost muted and insipid.
