He affirms special ties, underplays historical stress India has given to the Palestine issue
While welcoming Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Tel Aviv, his Israeli counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu,said his country had awaited the visit for “seventy years”. Since the birth in 1948 of Israel, whose admission to the UN India subsequently opposed, Israeli leaders had always sought full diplomatic ties. And once the Narasimha Rao government established full diplomatic ties in 1992, Israel pushed for full acknowledgement of bilateral relations on the international stage. As a result, the significance of Mr. Modi’s visit to Israel, as the first Indian Prime Minister there, was the trip itself. This was reflected in the camaraderie between the two Prime Ministers, who spent practically every waking moment together. The agreements signed during the visit, on water, agriculture, space and science and technology, are important no doubt, but not path-breaking. They simply underscore ongoing cooperation in such fields — as well as in the defence sector, India being one of the biggest buyers of Israeli military equipment. Cooperation on cybersecurity issues, discussed by officials during Mr. Modi’s visit, constitutes a breakthrough of sorts, given that Israel tends to limit cooperation in this area to a few countries. A decision was announced to upgrade ties to a strategic partnership, signalling a final step to total normalisation of relations. Perhaps this is why Mr. Modi’s address to Israelis of Indian origin in Tel Aviv, with a promise to address visa issues and improve air connectivity, had an emotional pitch different from his meetings with the diaspora elsewhere in the world.
However, the best friendships are judged not just by bilateral bonhomie, but by the ability to discuss uncomfortable issues. With Mr. Modi’s visit India has, for all purposes, de-hyphenated its ties with Israel and Palestine, something Israel has always wanted. In a clear repudiation of the Indian practice of keeping Palestinian leaders prominently in the loop, Mr. Modi made a point of not visiting the Occupied Territories. The departure was more prominent in the joint statement, that contained a short paragraph on the “Israel-Palestine” peace process, with no reference to UN resolutions, the two-state solution, or even the need to resume talks, that Mr. Modi had spoken of during the visit of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to India just a couple of months ago. It would have been more in keeping with India’s stature on the international stage, and its particular leverage with all players in West Asia especially on Palestine, had Mr. Modi made a visible attempt to extract from Israel a commitment to the peace process. India’s evolving ties with Israel no doubt are based on pragmatism and the desire to eschew hypocrisy — but Mr. Modi has infused his visit with a symbolism and substance that could well mark a point of departure in India’s moral support to the Palestinian cause. By way of comparison, U.S. President Donald Trump visited Palestine too when he went to Israel in May.
Synonyms - Secret , concealed , occult , hidden
Antonyms - Common , clear , known , appearent
Example (English) - She has a proclivity to assume the worst.
Example (Hindi) - उसमें हमेशा अत्यंत बुरा सोचने की प्रवृत्ति है|
IMPORTANT WORDS FROM ARTICLE & THEIR MEANING
1) Bonhomie (खुशमिज़ाजी) (Noun): bon-ho-mie
Meaning - a pleasant, good-natured manner ,friendliness
Synonyms - warmth, geniality ,affability , amiability
Antonyms -Aloofness , frostiness , ferocity , colddness
Example - The group leader wanted to facilitate bonhomie among the new members.
2) Eschew (त्याग करना) (Verb): es-choo
Meaning - to avoid something which you do not think is right or proper
Synonyms - abstain/refrain from, give up, forgo.
Antonyms - Embrace , like , confront
Example - Even though I love coffee, I have chosen to eschew it because of the damage it does to my teeth.
3) Camaraderie (सौहार्द) (Noun):- ca-ma-ra-de-rie
Meaning -good friendship and trust among members of a group
Synonyms -friendship, togetherness, solidarity.
Antonyms- Enemity ,animosity ,dislike ,unwarmheartedness
Example - The football players had a sense of camaraderie which made them an unbeatable team.
4) Stature (डील-डौल ,प्रतिष्ठा )(Noun) : stach-er
Meaning - a level of prestige earned for a deed or achievement
Synonyms - reputation, status, prestige.
Antonyms - Insignificance , unimportance ,deflate , atrophy
Example - As a five-time Grammy Award winner, Aretha has a huge stature in the music community.
5) Underscore (बल देना) (Verb): un-der-score
Meaning - To emphasize something
Synonyms - call attention to , highlight , stress
Antonyms - ignore ,neglect
Example -The speaker showed the students pictures of car crashes to underscore the danger of driving while talking on the phone.
6) Diaspora(प्रवासी) (Noun): di-as-po-ra
Meaning - the dispersion or spread of the people from their homeland to other countries.
Synonyms - Immigrant , exile , separation
Antonyms - concentration
Example -When war broke out in their home country, a diaspora of refugees settled in a neighboring nation.
7) Repudiation( परित्याग) (Noun): ri-pyoo-dee-ey-shun
Meaning - to reject; refuse to support
Synonyms - rejection, denial, contradiction.
Antonyms - Acceptance ,ratification
Example - Youth has done a repudiation of left-wing political ideas
8) Leverage (प्रभाव, शक्ति)(Noun): lev-er-age
Meaning - something that can be used to sway a negotiation
Synonyms - influence, power, authority.
Antonyms - Inferiority , poorness ,medicore , deficient
Example - Without leverage, it will be hard to convince the daughter to testify against her mother.
9) Infuse ( भरना ,व्याप्त) (Verb) : in-fyooz
Meaning -to fill with a certain quality
Synonyms - fill/pervade, imbue , instil.
Antonyms - Dry , drain , take out ,commiserate
Example -I thought eating spinach would infuse my muscles with super strength like Popeye the Sailor Man when I was a kid.
10) In the loop (अवगत होना ) (Phrase)
Meaning - having knowledge of and involvement in something
Synonyms - aware of, informed of, privy to/apprised of.
Antonyms - unaware , clueless , uninformed ,naive
Example - I don't know what's going on with the new property deal since I'm not in the loop. Raman and Rakesh are in the loop. They can tell you what's happening.
11) Proclivity (Adjective) - प्रवृत्ति, झुकाव, रुझान
Meaning - known or knowable only to a few people , mysteriousSynonyms - Secret , concealed , occult , hidden
Antonyms - Common , clear , known , appearent
Example (English) - She has a proclivity to assume the worst.
Example (Hindi) - उसमें हमेशा अत्यंत बुरा सोचने की प्रवृत्ति है|
Now considering the article above as a Reading Comprehension , try to answer the following questions-
- According to the author , the best friendships are judged by which parameter ?
- Which country is one of the biggest buyers of Israeli military equipment ?
Now it's time to check your vocabulary . We have given below some words from the same article . Try to make sentences with these words in the comment section which will be reviewed by us.
- Transcend
- Hypocrisy
- Resume
- Constitute
