The planners of the “abominable” 2008 Mumbai terror attack should pay a heavy price for it, the Speaker of Israel’s Parliament has said ahead of his maiden visit to India, asserting that the fight against terrorism is common concern for the two countries.
Amir Ohana, a close confidante of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, will travel to India for four days starting March 31, on his first official visit abroad after assuming office in December last year. Stating that the menace of terrorism is a common concern, Ohana, a former Shin Bet (Israeli internal security agency) official, told that the fight to counter it requires all the progressive countries to come together.
“We all remember the abominable terrorist attacks on Mumbai in 2008 in which over 207 people were murdered, of which 178 were Indians. Among the foreigners who were murdered were unfortunately also Israelis and Jews who came to the Chabad house,” Ohana pointed out. “Whoever planned and sent the terrorists from the terrorist organisation Lashkar-e-Taiba should pay a heavy price for it”, he said.
During his visit to India, Ohana will be signing a cooperation agreement between the two parliaments with his counterpart, Om Birla, to facilitate knowledge exchange between the two institutions and hold a series of parliamentary, political and economic meetings. He will be accompanied by lawmakers Michael Biton and Amit Halevi, the chairman of the Israel-India inter-parliamentary friendship group.
Ohana sees the visit as yet another step “to tighten and strengthen the cooperation between the countries in general and between the parliaments in particular for the benefit of the citizens of both countries.”
The delegation will be meeting President Draupadi Murmu, Minister of External Affairs S. Jaishankar, and Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar, among several other officials. The delegation will also be visiting Mumbai, where they would pay their respects to the lost lives at the Chabad House. They will also meet the CEO of the National Stock Exchange during the four-day visit. Israeli leaders and officials have repeatedly called for the perpetrators of the horrendous crime to be “brought to justice”.