India–Israel: Retrospective and Prospective

Shimon Peres’ (then Foreign Minister of Israel) meeting with Eduardo Faleiro (then Indian Minister of State for External Affairs) on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York in September 1992 was among the first ministerial-level contacts between India and Israel after the establishment of diplomatic relations in January of that year. Peres, whom I was to meet many times in the ensuing years in my various capacities, left a deep impression on me. As I discovered later, he formulated his spoken words as if he was drafting, rather crafting something for publication—fine, chiselled and most apt words without the slightest apparent effort at articulation.