India Trusts Israel, Does Israel Trust India?

A couple suspected of being Israeli spies were arrested in the southern Indian city of Kochi, Kerala on February 5. Local newspapers, which reported the arrest, quoted unnamed police officials as stating that Shneor Zalman and Yaffa Shenoi, both Israeli passport holders, to be 'foreign agents'. However, their 'mission', was not specified and police reported that the couple would be deported back to Israel after questioning which means some clear evidence of their activities, inimical to India, may have been found. Local newspapers reported that undercover Kerala Police officials followed them for a year, questioned them and filed a report after receiving details that other Israeli spies might be camping out in various Indian cities. The decision to deport them was taken by the district admnistration of Ernakulum District which looks after such matters under its jurisdiction. Exactly what the two were upto in a city which has India's largest population of jews is a subject of speculation. Some years ago, the Kerala state administration had sounded the alarm after Indians jews, emigrating to Israel were reported to be taking away priceless relics from centuries old Synagogues in Kerala's backwaters. This incident comes a month after Indian External Affairs Minister S.M Krishna made a historic visit to Jerusalem to reaffirm 20 years of diplomatic relations under which bilateral trade is worth nearly USD 100 billion dollars, most of it flowing from India to Israel. Just a week before the arrest of the suspected spies, the Israeli Foreign Ministry published a study claiming that a whopping 58% of Indian respondents were found to have sympathetic feelings for the Jewish State whereas only 56 % of Americans felt the same way. Indeed, Israel enjoys a very positive image in Indian bureaucratic and business circles. Will this incident, which will bring a sharper focus on Israeli activities in India, change that perception?