Pakistan has a serendipitous chance to greatly expand its growing Eurasian influence through skillfully taking advantage of the Syrian fallout from India’s newfound military-strategic partnership with “Israel”.
One of President Assad’s closest and most trusted advisors, Mrs. Bouthaina Shabaan, spoke out earlier this week in an interview with Hindustan Times against Indian Prime Minister Modi’s visit to “Israel” early last month, saying that Syria is now hesitant about allowing India to rebuild the devastated country because of the huge disappointment that its people have in New Delhi as a result. Her remarks were very important and therefore deserve to be quoted in full so that readers can truly understand all of what she meant, including the deeper nuances hidden in her words:
“Allow me to say that the Syrian people are very disappointed with the visit of Prime Minister Modi to Israel, because Israel is an occupying and a colonial force which has deprived Palestinians of their indigenous rights. We never expected India will move from its righteous and moral stand and pay that huge courtesy to Israel. I can say that while we call for a role for China and a role for Russia, we are very hesitant to call for a role for India (in rebuilding Syria). Regardless of the economic and military relations, because we know there are relations between India and Israel, the visit of Prime Minister Modi to Israel was really shocking.”
The journalist who interviewed her also reported that “it wasn’t India’s working relationship with Israel but the prime ministerial visit and the optics it entailed that had baffled Syria, she added”, which makes it seem like the global pomp and circumstance deliberately promoted by the government-influenced Mainstream Media in India was what put Syria in a defensive position whereby it, as a dignified defender of Palestine, had no choice but to respond with the choice words that Mrs. Shabaan used. However, there might be a little bit more behind Syria’s response than it might initially seem.
