(MENAFN- IANS) New Delhi, March 12 (IANS) Israel's Ambassador to India, Naor Gilon on Tuesday marked National Security Advisor (NSA), Ajit Doval's, visit to Israel as "important", saying that it is the first such visit by a high-ranking Indian official since Hamas launched a surprise attack on the country in October last year.
"Important visit of NSA, Ajit Doval, to Israel. First such visit since the October 7 massacre," Ambassador Gilon said in a post on X on Tuesday.
The remarks came as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met NSA Doval on Monday and updated him on recent developments in the fighting in the Gaza Strip.
The two sides also discussed the effort to release the hostages and the issue of humanitarian assistance, the Office of the Prime Minister of Israel said in a post on X.
PM Netanyahu's foreign policy advisor, Director of the National Security Council, and the Indian Ambassador to Israel also participated in the meeting.
The visit comes just after India issued an advisory for its nationals in Israel and asked them to relocate to safer areas, after a man from Kerala was killed and two others were injured in a missile strike near the Israel-Lebanon border.
Expressing concern over large-scale loss of civilian lives, especially women and children, India has called for a two-state solution, emphasising that a permanent and long-term fix to the Israel-Palestine conflict is necessary to avoid what the world witnessed on October 7 last year.
Speaking at the Munich Security Conference last month, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that what happened on October 7 was "terrorism" and that Israel "should be very mindful of civilian casualties."
Calling the return of the hostages imperative, Jaishankar added that there was a need for a "sustainable humanitarian corridor" to provide relief to the people in war-ravaged areas.
According to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza, more than 31,000 people have been killed and 72,654 wounded in the territory since the outbreak of hostilities.
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