Modi's Israel visit has serious implications on strategic stability in the region: Pakistan Media

The media report said Pakistan officially does not comment on bilateral visits of other heads of governments and states

Islamabad, July 6: While Indian Prime Minister's historic visit to Israel is hitting headlines across the world, neighbouring country Pakistan is closely watching Prime Minister Narendra Modi's trip to Israel, as it can have serious implications on strategic stability in the region, a media report from Pakistan said on Wednesday.

The Express Tribune reported that Pakistan officially does not comment on bilateral visits of other heads of governments and states, but it is closely following Modi's trip since it can have serious implications on strategic stability in the region.

Dr Zafar Nawaz Jaspal, an international affairs expert, said growing defence cooperation between India and Israel would disturb strategic balance in the South Asian region.

The Quaid-e-Azam University professor believes Israel assistance can propel India's missile programme, something that would undermine Pakistan's policy of maintaining credible deterrence, the daily reported.

"One of the subjects on which the Indian media has created a lot of hype is the threat emanating from terrorism. It has worked hard to relate terrorism with Pakistan and blame it for virtually any terror incident occurring anywhere in India," the daily said.

Israel has long been a major supplier of arms and other defence equipment to India and those deals have deliberately been kept secret by the two sides. However, the two countries are now more open and publicly talk about their deepening defence cooperation," the daily said. India got access to some of the most modern defence technologies of America through Israel, defence analyst Lt-Gen (retd) Amjad Shoaib was quoted as saying by the daily.

Gen Shoaib said India had greatly benefited from the defence and military ties with Israel.

See what the Pakistani media said on PM Modi's visit:

The Dawn

Titled 'Indo-Israeli embrace', an editorial in Dawn on Thursday says PM Modi's meeting with Netanyahu provides Pakistan an opportunity to "build world opinion" on the Kashmir issue. Comparing Israel's "atrocious behaviour" towards Palestinians to the "brute force" India has "unleashed" upon Kashmiris, the Dawn editorial states the Indo-Israel relationship has emerged as a "steady bilateral alliance."

The Nation

The Nation's editorial 'Breaking Silence' questions the timing of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei's call for support for the "oppressed Muslims in Kashmir" earlier this week given PM Modi's visit to Israel - the first in 70 years. Opining that Khamenei's remarks may have been prompted by the urge to remind India what a friendship with Israel might cost, the edit adds that PM Modi's visit translates to India standing with an enemy of the Muslim bloc.

The Daily Times

The Daily Times, which stands in solidarity with Palestinians, in an editorial titled 'When Modi met Bibi', opines that India could have made use of its "economic clout" to influence Israel in weakening its hold over occupied territories.

"Yet at heart Modi is a hyper-nationalist who only speaks the language of neoliberal economics. In Netanyahu, he sees a 'friend' who also believes in silencing dissent. The significance of Modi skipping a visit to Ramallah, the traditional home of the Palestinian Authority, cannot be overstated," the editorial says.

Oneindia News (with agency inputs)