Jews have lived “for over 2,000 years in India in total equality and peacefully”, Israeli Ambassador to India Naor Gilon has stated, and said he found "no anti-Semitism in India".

 “And as someone who arrived [in India] after serving quite extensive periods in Europe, I was very much surprised to see how much love and appreciation there is in India towards Israel. There is another element – there is no anti-Semitism in India, this phrase just doesn’t exist,” Gilon said  as he spoke at a virtual event that he addressed along with Sanjeev Singla, the Indian envoy to Israel, to mark the launch of a commemorative logo for the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two nations.

There are about 7,000 Jews living in India, mainly in west, south and northeast India, many of them believing themselves to be descendants of the lost tribes of Israel. 

Gilon on Monday recalled the role of Indian soldiers of the British Indian Army in World War 1 in liberating areas that later became Israel.

He recalled his visits last year along with Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to “some places commemorating more than 900 Indian soldiers buried in Israel”. These were soldiers “who fought during World War 1 as part of the British Indian army to liberate this area that later became Israel”, he said.

About 900 Indian soldiers are interred in cemeteries across Israel in Jerusalem, Ramle and Haifa. (SAM)