NEW DELHI: The killing of an Indian army veteran serving as a UN staffer in Gaza has stirred outrage in India and prompted calls for the government to hold Israel accountable.

Col. Waibhav Anil Kale was on duty with the UN Department of Safety and Security when his UN-marked vehicle was targeted in southern Gaza on Monday.

A former peacekeeper, he was hit on the way to the European Hospital in Rafah by what the UN said it had no doubt was Israeli tank fire.

The Indian Ministry of External Affairs issued a statement on Wednesday in response, saying it was “deeply saddened by the death” and that it was “in touch with relevant authorities” regarding an investigation into the incident.

The statement did not contain condemnation, unlike in July 2022, when two Indian peacekeepers were killed in an attack on a UN Organization Stabilization Mission base in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

At that time, India’s foreign minister said the perpetrators “must be held accountable and brought to justice” and convened a special meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss the attack.

Talmiz Ahmad, former Indian ambassador to Saudi Arabia, told Arab News on Thursday that the government’s response was “grossly inadequate” given it was a “calculated killing” of an Indian army officer and UN staffer.

“The Indian government can hold Israel accountable. India is a sponsor of a resolution related to the protection of the UN personnel,” he said.

“This particular killing of a UN officer is a targeted killing because it was very obvious to Israelis that this was a UN vehicle, and it was on an official UN mission. A tank deliberately targeted this vehicle.”

New Delhi has always been sensitive to assaults on UN personnel given that it is one of the largest contributors of the organization’s peacekeepers.

The reaction to Kale’s killing was insufficient, according to Kavita Krishnan, a women’s rights activist.

“If a person is a UN employee, he is entitled to protection,” she said.

“The Indian government should specifically hold Israel accountable for this killing. They cannot treat it just as a casualty of war or collateral damage.”

Israel’s deadly siege and bombardment of Gaza has since October killed over 35,000 people, wounded 70,000, and left most of the enclave’s population starving and with no access to medical, food and water supplies.

The UN estimates that more than 190 of its staff members have also been killed in the ongoing onslaught. Kale was the first international UN employee to be killed.

“It’s condemnable that India does not name the fact of assassination. It’s not death. He did not die of illness. He was killed by Israel,” said Apoorvanand Jha, a public intellectual and professor at the University of Delhi.

“Israel kills people who are involved in the health services … kills journalists, aid workers and kills workers involved in the peacekeeping forces. So, it does it knowingly. It is not a collateral damage. Israel does it knowingly — this is what has been recorded many times. Israel needs to be held accountable for all the individual crimes of assassinations and the collective crimes, mass deaths.”

The killing of UN personnel goes against international humanitarian law.

“New Delhi should tell Tel Aviv that it should respect international law,” said Anwar Sadat, senior assistant professor at the Indian Society of International Law.

“The Indian government should issue a diplomatic demarche to the Israeli government.”

The government’s reaction was also seen as not boding well for the safety of Indian workers whom New Delhi has agreed to send to Israel.

Since the beginning of its invasion of Gaza, Israel has revoked work permits for tens of thousands of Palestinian laborers and sought to facilitate their replacement with manpower from South Asia.

In November, the Indian government signed a three-year agreement with Tel Aviv on the “temporary employment” of workers in the construction and caregiving sector.

“If this is the statement that the Indian government can bring for an official who works with the UN, imagine what if it happens with any of the workers. No one is going to speak,” said N. Sai Balaji, assistant professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University.

“This seriously compromises India’s super-power ambitions; it seriously compromises India’s own foreign policy.”

SINGAPORE: As Singapore gets a new prime minister for the first time in 20 years, experts have told Arab News what to expect from the city-state’s fourth leader, Lawrence Wong, who came to the fore with his handling of the successful COVID-19 response.

Wong was inaugurated on Wednesday evening, taking over the reins from Lee Hsien Loong, son of the founding father of modern Singapore Lee Kuan Yew.

The 51-year-old began his career as an economist at the trade ministry with a US educational background, before moving up to occupy some of the biggest jobs in Singapore’s bureaucracy, including the Energy Market Authority and Lee’s principal private secretary.

The civil servant-turned-politician was catapulted into the spotlight in 2020, when he coordinated Singapore’s successful fight against COVID-19. He has also garnered public support by showcasing his guitar skills online, including a cover of Taylor Swift’s “Love Story” that went viral in March.

“Lawrence Wong has been in charge with the COVID-19 pandemic, and he did very well. Singapore did very well by and large; that was something that the international community noticed,” said James M. Dorsey, a senior fellow at the Nanyang Technological University.

Compared with Lee, Wong will still have to work on his global exposure, but should be able to capitalize on the enduring image of Singapore’s “serious stability,” Dorsey added.

“As we watch the process of build-up toward the transition, we will have greater confidence in Lawrence Wong. And simply the confidence in the way Singapore does things, working in Wong’s favor.”

Southeast Asia analyst Adib Zalkapli is expecting Wong to continue the policies of his predecessor, who oversaw the country’s economic growth into an international financial hub and top tourist destination, more than doubling the island’s gross domestic product per capita.

“It’s a well-planned change of leadership that will ensure continuity. We are unlikely to see major policy changes in the short to medium term,” he told Arab News, adding that the same approach will likely apply on matters related to foreign policy.

Bridget Welsh, an honorary research associate at the Asia Research Institute in the University of Nottingham Malaysia, is also expecting continuity.

“Essentially status quo. Arguably, there will be more engagement, as issues remain complex in the region, and the new leadership will want to establish or deepen his own personal ties in the region,” Welsh said.

But so far, little is known about the policies Wong is likely to adopt, said Ian Chong, an associate professor of political science at the National University of Singapore.

“Lawrence Wong has said that he will bring continuity, make tough decisions, and is pro-Singapore. What these mean in practice is not yet known. Wong has not so far stated what his policy direction and vision is, why it is important, and why Singaporeans need to support it,” he said.

The new prime minister arrives at a particularly challenging time in geopolitics, a departure from a period of “stable external environment” that worked in Singapore’s favor.

“Intensifying US-PRC (People’s Republic of China) competition, internal circulation, on-shoring, friend-shoring, trade barriers, as well as data and technology in all the developed economies challenge Singapore’s business model,” Chong said.

“Wong has yet to articulate a plan on how he intends to deal with these challenges, even though he concedes their seriousness.”

In his first speech as prime minister, Wong paid tribute to his predecessors, but said that the country’s new leadership would adopt a style that “differs” from that of previous generations.

“We will lead in our own way. We will continue to think boldly and to think far. We know that there is still much more to do,” he said. “The best chapters of our Singapore story lie ahead.”