It's in India’s interest to crack Israeli embassy car bomb case

New York: India is under tremendous pressure, especially from the United States and Israel, to investigate the terrorist attack on Israeli diplomatic targets in New Delhi and bring the perpetrators to justice. While condemning the car bombing in New Delhi which left four Israelis injured, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton indicated the United States was ready to assist with the investigation of “these cowardly acts,” which Israel has blamed on Iran and its ally, the Shiite militant group Hezbollah. “Chances are that India will not accept the American offer of assistance,” said South Asia expert Sumit Ganguly, who holds the Rabindranath Tagore Chair in Indian Cultures and Civilizations at Indiana University in Bloomington. “I will be quite surprised if India does because there is a real sense of pride and also a certain amount of sensitivity about allowing the US to come in and sort of poke around.” [caption id=“attachment_213599” align=“alignright” width=“380” caption=“The Israeli embassy car that was targeted for a bomb attack being towed away by Delhi Police. Reuters”] [/caption] Monday’s bombing, which targeted Tal Yehoshua Koren, the wife of the Israeli defence attaché in and Israel’s reflexive indictment of Iran for the incident threaten to put India right in the middle of escalating tensions over US and Israeli efforts to shut down Iran’s nuclear program . “Of course, there is great pressure: you would expect that in the case of a foreign diplomat being harmed on Indian soil. India has a very robust defence relationship with Israel which it does not want to see disturbed. The Israelis are particularly sensitive to questions of terror,” said Ganguly. “India will put some very able people to work on this case because the last thing it wants is for the world to think India’s national capital is unsafe for foreign diplomats, quite apart from Israeli or US concerns. It is in India’s self-interest to ensure there is a thorough, swift and forthright investigation to reassure members of the diplomatic community in Delhi who have hitherto had a pleasant existence and not been subject to car bombs,” added Ganguly. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has blamed Iran and the Shia militant group Hezbollah for the attack in New Delhi and for another attempted bombing in the Georgian capital that was averted. Iran has denied the charge and Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said, “Israel launched attacks against its own embassies in New Delhi and Tbilisi in order to tarnish Iran’s friendly ties with the host countries. Israel perpetrated the terror actions to launch psychological warfare against Iran.” Ganguly cautioned against “jumping to conclusions” about complicity in the bomb attack. “If there is indeed a link to Iran, this would mean that India is not only faced with Sunni terror but also Shia terror and that would be downright unfortunate - quite apart from the diplomatic potential fallout with Iran that could ensue,” he said. India relies on Iran for about 12 percent of its oil imports or 3,50,000-4,00,000 barrels per day (bpd) and is Iran’s second-biggest oil client after China. India has rejected US pressure to join a ban of oil imports from Iran and made it as plain as daylight that it will continue to trade with Tehran. The incidents in India and Georgia came a day after the anniversary of the assassination of Hezbollah military chief Imad Mughniyeh in 2008, which Iran has blamed on the Israeli secret service Mossad. Mugniyah was killed when an explosive was planted in the headrest of the driver’s seat of his jeep and the Hezbollah vowed revenge against Israel. Israel has denied it was responsible. Israeli analysts say it is unlikely that the New Delhi attack was actually carried out by the Hezbollah or by Iran’s special forces. Instead, they believe, locals belonging to a collaborator network may have set off the “sticky car bomb” which has a magnetic base. It may have taken the bike-borne assailants only a few seconds to attach it to the diplomat’s car. Reports suggest the wife of the Israeli defence attaché in India, who was injured in the bombing, may have managed to get out of the car after she saw the terrorist attach the “sticky bomb.” Israel will probably send intelligence agents to work with the Indians, and India - without much fanfare - will probably work quietly with the Israelis to crack open the case. The Delhi Police is treating the explosion as a terrorist attack, although it hasn’t pointed a finger at anyone. Israeli officials appear confident about finding the terrorists. “We know how to identify exactly who is responsible for the attacks,” said foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman. With or without Israeli help, India must nail the terrorists to signal that it can provide security to foreign diplomats and their spouses who are soft targets. “It is in India’s interest, let alone what the United States or Israel thinks about the matter,” said Ganguly.