Ahead of PM Modi's visit, Israel supports India's anti-terror ops

Jerusalem: Asserting that both India and Israel suffer from the "evil" forces of terrorism, the Jewish nation has said it completely supports New Delhi in its fight against terror emanating from Pakistan and within the country.

"Israel has never hidden the fact that it supports India hook, line and sinker on the subject of terrorism," the deputy director general of Israels foreign ministry, Mark Sofer, told reporters here.

"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.

Condemning terrorism in all forms, the Israeli official said outfits like Lashkar-e-Taiba and Hamas were no different from each other and added that both India and Israel have the right to defend themselves.

"We feel that India has a right to defend itself against terrorists in the same way as Israel has a right to defend itself from terrorists. 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 is a terrorist," said Sofer, who has served as ambassador to India.

"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. We both clearly share the same struggle against the forces of evil," he said.