CPI(M) condemns Israeli Foreign Minister Bezalel Smotrich's India visit

New Delhi, Sep 9 (PTI) The CPI(M) on Tuesday condemned Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich's ongoing visit to India and said it is "shameful" that the government is hosting him at a time when people are being massacred in Gaza every day.

In a statement issued here, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) called Smotrich a prime mover of proposals to annex the occupied West Bank to Israel, adding that several countries have banned his entry and some have also imposed other sanctions.

"The Politburo of the CPI(M) condemns the visit of Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich to India. He led an Israeli delegation to sign a bilateral investment agreement with the Indian government," the Left party said in a statement.

It said Smotrich belongs to a far-right, racist political party, is the leading advocate in the Benjamin Netanyahu government for occupying the Gaza strip by forcibly displacing the Palestinian people and a prime mover of proposals to annex the occupied West Bank to Israel.

"As a result of his expansionist policies involving the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians, several countries have banned his entry and some of them have also imposed other sanctions. Among these countries are the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Norway, the Netherlands, Slovenia and New Zealand," the CPI(M) said.

"It is shameful that the (Narendra) Modi government has hosted such a person and signed agreements with the Israeli government at a time when the people of Gaza are being massacred every day," it said.

"This episode highlights the deep and entrenched ties that the Modi government has forged with the Netanyahu government, and its complicity in the ongoing horrific genocide in Gaza," it added.

The CPI(M) Politburo demanded that the Indian government rescind all military, security and economic collaboration with Israel till that country agrees to an immediate ceasefire and work towards a just and peaceful settlement of the Palestinian question.

Smotrich is on a three-day visit to India from September 8 and 10. He met Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday and signed a bilateral investment agreement with an aim to promote and protect investments in each other's countries. PTI AO RC