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(Because of the scope of this question, this answer is going to be quite long)Let’s take each country separately in your question and compare India’s relation with them pre Modi and Modi era.China:Pre Modi Era: Having trade relations as back as millenniums, China has always backstabbed India since India got independence. From the “Hindi-Chini Bhai Bhai” war of 1962 to supporting Pakistan/terrorists militarily against India. From the Cho-La skirmish of 1967, Sumdorong Chu Valley skirmish of 1987 to occupying Indian land through salami-slicing in more than 20 major incidents till 2013, China never had good intentions towards India. To rekindle everyone’s memory of how China was perceived in pre-Modi days, according to 2 international surveys:i) In 2014, 47% of Indians viewed China negatively while 35% of Chinese viewed India negatively. http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/country-rating-poll.pdfii) In 2013, 73% of Indians expected a military conflict with China in the near future. How Asians View Each OtherModi Era: During the 2017 Doklam standoff where India fulfilled their neighbourly agreement and stood by Bhutan against China’s expansionism in their country. In 2020, China again came in, to salami-slice some more of Indian territory, but this time, with a heightened level of National security, our army was given a free hand to do whatever they wanted to protect our interests in the region. However, before all this, Modi wanted to start his term in 2014 on a positive note with China, which is why he invited Xi Jinping to his oath-taking ceremony, then invited him for a business summit in Ahmedabad, himself was cordially invited for a grandiose cultural welcoming in Wuhan hosted by Xi himself, later invited Xi to a cultural welcome in Tamil Nadu in 2018. Everything was going great except for China’s expansionist policy. Now if anyone feels that Indo Chinese relationships have deteriorated because of Modi’s zero-tolerance towards intrusion policy, I have no words for you except maybe read a book on National Security Policies around the world rather than spending time on WhatsApp.2. Nepal:Pre Modi Era: “Till 1962, any Indian could migrate to Nepal and gain their citizenship. But it was changed due to resentment in Nepali public. In 1954 a memorandum provided for the joint coordination of foreign policy, and Indian security posts were established in Nepal's northern frontier. At the same time, Nepal's dissatisfaction with India's growing influence began to emerge, and overtures to China were initiated as a counterweight to India. King Mahendra continued to pursue a nonaligned policy begun during the reign of Prithvi Narayan Shah in the mid-eighteenth century. In the late 1950s and 1960s, Nepal voted differently from India in the UN unless India's basic interests were involved. The two countries consistently remained at odds over the rights of landlocked states to transit facilities and access to the sea (Taken From Nepal - India) In 1987 India urged the expulsion of Nepalese settlers from neighbouring Indian states, and Nepal retaliated by introducing a work permit system for Indians working in Nepal. Relations between the two countries sank to a low point in 1988 when Kathmandu signed an agreement with Beijing to purchase weapons soon after a report that China had won a contract for constructing a road in the western sector to connect China with Nepal. India perceived these developments as deliberately jeopardizing its security. In retaliation for these developments, India put Nepal under a virtual trade siege. In March 1989, upon the expiration of the 1978 treaties on trade and transit rights, India insisted on negotiating a single unified treaty in addition to an agreement on an unauthorized trade, which Nepal saw as a flagrant attempt to strangle its economy. On March 23, 1989, India declared that both treaties had expired and closed all but two border entry points. The relationship with India was further strained in 1989 when Nepal decoupled its rupee from the Indian rupee which previously had circulated freely in Nepal. After the restoration of democracy in 2008, PM Prachanda visited India, in September 2008 only after visiting China, thus breaking the long-held tradition of Nepalese PM making India as their first port-of-call. For further reading, this is an article from 2013 explaining the increased Nepal-China economic relations (Billions of Dollars worth of investment) and the emergence of Maoist behaviour in Nepali politics, India was bound to be sidelined in the future: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-22365488Modi Era: There was very less PM Modi could do for already strained Indo-Nepal relations, given the hardcore communist fervour in Nepal that clearly sided with China in every decision they made. Still, after becoming the PM, Modi visited Nepal in August 2014, marking the first official visit by an Indian prime minister in 17 years. During his visit, India agreed to provide Nepal with US$1 billion as a concessional line of credit for various development purposes. Then Nepal and India signed an important deal in 2014 as per which India would build a 900 MW hydropower plant at a cost of another US$1 billion. An amount of US$250 million was granted to Nepal as a part of the agreements signed in 2016 for post-earthquake reconstruction. However, the biggest event that affected the current relations was the 2015 Nepal blockade by certain communities that live on the India Nepal border. In 2015, Nepal released its new constitution in which Madhesi, Tharu and Janjati communities were given lesser rights than other communities and as a result, protests erupted in Nepal and India. This led to a massive blockade by these communities on the border crossings between Nepal and India. As this was a sensitive issue, the Indian government refrained from using any force to remove the blockade. To top it off, Nepal was stuck with Earthquake and the blockade led to a complete stoppage of imports to the devastated landlocked country of Nepal. This further solidified the negative resentment in the minds of Nepali people the repercussions of which we are witnessing even today. The majority of communities blamed India to have deliberately choked Nepal with the help of minorities in their time of need. This added to the already increasing closeness towards China and a Communist PM at the helm of things, we are where we are today.3. Malaysia: We still enjoy as good relations with Malaysia as we did before Modi. The only small issue was the anti-India statement of the then Malaysian PM Mahathir who had a personal relationship/connection with Pakistan. But immediately (within days) following this blunderous folly, he along with everyone near to him were literally purged from power and today are seen nowhere near the power in Malaysia. If this won’t confirm to you the closeness Malaysia and India have, I don’t know what will.4. Bangladesh:Pre Modi Era: Since its independence, Bangladesh and India have had many territorial disputes like Teen Beegha Corridor and Bay of Bengal areas. In 2011, Bangladesh rejected India’s multiple pleas to allow us a transit path for transportation to North-Eastern states. Bangladesh has risen the issue of Human Rights Violation by India on many international forums due to the shooting of illegal Bangladeshi trespassers by the BSF. In 2012, Bangladeshi Hackers defaced BSF’s website to avenge the recent killings by them.Modi Era: The biggest change was the resolution of the decades-old Indo-Bangladesh border issues where India gave some of its lands to Bangladesh in exchange for some of their theirs so that a proper demarcation between the two countries can be done. Then, Bangladesh and India vowed to increase military coordination and have taken part in annual joint exercises. India has offered loans to Bangladesh on much easier terms than China does. Source: India plans to enhance trade with Bangladesh Things are looking better than ever for the future of Indo-Bangladesh relations.5. Pakistan: I have no idea how India has worsened its relationship with Pakistan after 2014. There have been 4 full-blown wars with Pakistan well before Modi became the PM and what that “Aman Ki Asha” did was just increase Pakistani spy base in India and the number of deadly terrorist attacks have increased since then. I don’t see how anyone would think to end these useless campaigns was to worsen our relations with Pakistan. As for conducting Surgical Strikes/Air Strikes is concerned, I would like to say that the only way to stop a dog from chasing you is to stop doing what you are doing and hit it with a stone.Regarding lost stakes in Iran:There was a piece of fake news spread by The Hindu, Ravish Kumar, Dhruv Rathee and the usual suspects that Iran has kicked India out of the Chahbahar Rail Project. To clear things, India was never a part of Chabahar Rail Project, it was and still is only involved in the port development and nothing else. No Deal With India On Chabahar Railway Project, Iran Clarifies: Report Apart from this, in a display of masterful diplomacy by Modi govt, India was able to exclude Chabahar port from America’s sanctions on Iran. Iran's Chabahar port spared from US sanctions in rare cooperationI would implore the OP to seriously refrain from WhatsApp forwards/Dhruv Rathee and start reading other authentic news.Update:Amb Gaddam Dharmendra was today invited by H.E. Saeed Rasouli Dy Minister Roads & Head of Iran Railways to review ongoing co-op on Chabahar-Zahedan railway. H.E. Rasouli stated that vested interests were behind recent reports that Iran excluded India from Chabahar-Zahedan railway pic.twitter.com/RNb5wQKPm3— India in Iran (@India_in_Iran) July 20, 2020In the end, I would like to say that since Modi became the PM, there has been a dynamic change in India’s foreign policy. From a perceived soft power, we are on our way to becoming an Asian superpower. For this, we have taken many steps or done certain things that will erk the preconceived notions about India and for that, we will be hated in the short term. China would never want another power in the region for the fear of loss of its monopoly, Pakistan would never want India to become the regional power which is also their worst nightmare. Nepal’s communist puppet PM will toe whatever CCP wants him to. But trust me, if we patiently wait through this time, our coming generations will thank us for Powerful India we will leave for them.Remember these words of APJ Abdul Kalam sirThanks for Reading.

I assume you mean Arizona State, not Arkansas State.Chip's comments are quite good in my opinion. His advice on applying for an "off-brand" major is key. For example, at Purdue, you can get admitted MUCH easier if you apply for the School of Agriculture ("Ag"). Take the survey (introductory) courses in year one, then apply for a transfer. If you play your cards right, you won't take any longer to graduate. I have a close relative who was accepted for engineering (Cornell),then transferred to liberal arts on Day One.Regarding agriculture, try U of Arizona for agriculture. The "land grant" schools have a historical commitment to encourage agriculture. Believe it or not, along with AI, "Ag" is the wave of the future, due to climate change, population growth, increased industrialization. etc. Look into genetic engineering, tree engineering, water efficiency, drought-resistant crops, enhanced crop yields, artificial photosynthesis, etc. The possibilities are almost endless.FYI, I'm impressed about your community service.Think about YOUR purpose in life. Trust me, you will do well.Good luck!

Q. Did the Vietnamese boat people in Israel marry along other Vietnamese people or marry Jews and Arabs?A. . 35 years on, where are Israel’s Vietnamese refugees? (Times of Israel)Children of Vietnamese Refugees enlist in the IDF (The Mike Report)Israeli-Vietnamese woman serves in the Israel Defense ForcesVietnam: Israel’s closest ASEAN partner - New MandalaA. TL;DR: From 1977 to 1979, then prime minister Menachem Begin welcomed about 360 Vietnamese boat people fleeing for their lives from the Communist takeover of their country. Israel granted them citizenship, full rights and government-subsidized apartments.There are 150-200 refugees and their descendants still living in Israel. More than half of the original Vietnamese refugees have left Israel, mostly for Europe and North America, where they were reunited with their extended families.The first generation of Vietnamese refugees socialize mostly with each other and their sabra, or native-born, children have Israeli friends and switch back and forth between Vietnamese and Hebrew.The second generation with Vietnamese names are deeply integrated into Israeli society. Most communicate on their walls (facebook) in Hebrew, have a majority of Israeli friends, attended Israeli high schools and appear to have served in the IDF. One works for the police. Of those who are married, many have Israeli spouses.File:Flickr - Government Press Office (GPO) - Vietnamese refugees at Ben GurionDuki Dror’s Documentory 2005 film (downloaded here) documents heartbreak of immigrant parents watching their children grow up with foreign ideas, habits and aspirations. At the same time, the children feel torn between embracing the new culture and feeling rejected by it, while wanting to reject it in return out of loyalty to their parents.Among second-generation Vietnamese Israelis, there are various coping strategies: some assimilate, some emigrate and a minority express loyalty to their Vietnamese roots by marrying spouses from Vietnam and speaking Vietnamese at home.But when a community is so small, assimilation is almost inevitable.(23 Oct 1979) Vietnamese refugees arrive in Israel and go to new homes in Tel Aviv.35 years on, where are Israel’s Vietnamese refugees? (Times of Israel)Amid Israel's debate over absorbing Syrian refugees, focus turns to the integration of the boat people from Vietnam who arrived in the 1970sBy SIMONA WEINGLASS 20 September 2015, 3:13 pmNewly arrived refugees from Vietnam ride the bus to the Ben Gurion Airport arrivals terminal, June 26, 1977 (Moshe Milner/GPO)As hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers risk their lives to reach Europe, Israeli political and religious leaders have called on the government to take in Syrian refugees. But opponents, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, argue that Israel is too small, or that Israel should not accept migrants from an enemy state.Amid the debate, attention has once again turned to the time in history when Israel did accept refugees from a faraway conflict. From 1977 to 1979, then prime minister Menachem Begin welcomed about 360 Vietnamese boat people fleeing for their lives from the Communist takeover of their country. Israel granted them citizenship, full rights and government-subsidized apartments.How did these refugees fare in the Promised Land? Are they still living in Israel? Can their circumstances shed light on the current debate over refugees?If you Google “Vietnamese refugees Israel,” one of the first names that comes up is that of Vaan Nguyen, a poet and actress in her early 30s who was the subject of a tear-jerking 2005 documentary, “The Journey of Vaan Nguyen,” about the Israeli-born daughter of Vietnamese refugees growing up between two cultures.Newly arrived refugees being greeted at Ben Gurion Airport by fellow Vietnamese already in Israel, January 24, 1979 (Moshe Milner/GPO)Vaan Nguyen says she would be happy to be interviewed when her book of poetry is translated from Hebrew into English but declines an interview on the subject of Vietnamese refugees.“I’ve gotten tons of requests for interviews,” she writes with a note of weariness. “You can look at my list of Facebook friends and write to the Vietnamese ones. Most of them are children of refugees.”Vaan Nguyen in a still from the 2005 film “The Journey of Vaan Nguyen” (Courtesy: Duki Dror)The Times of Israel sent messages to about 15 of Vaan Nguyen’s Facebook friends as well as to an additional five Vietnamese Israelis found from other sources. Only one of these 20 people replied, writing, “Hi! I’m not interested, thanks.”Dr. Sabine Huynh is an accomplished translator and author who fled Vietnam for France as a child in 1976. She has lived in Israel for the last 15 years and although she is not one of the refugees taken in by Israel, she has ties to the community.Sabine Huynh - WikipediaHuynh says she has been contacted by journalists looking to talk about Vietnamese refugees but prefers not to get involved.But Huynh does mention that she wrote a sociological research project about the Vietnamese-Israeli refugees in 2008, one that was never published even though people told her it should be. She also recommends watching Duki Dror’s 2005 film (which can be downloaded here) to better understand the community.Vietnamese sabrasWriting in 2008, Huynh describes the tension between a first generation of Vietnamese refugees who socialize mostly with each other and their sabra, or native-born, children who have Israeli friends and who switch back and forth between Vietnamese and Hebrew.A perusal of some of their Facebook profiles reveals a second generation with Vietnamese names who are deeply integrated into Israeli society. Most communicate on their walls in Hebrew, have a majority of Israeli friends, attended Israeli high schools and appear to have served in the IDF. One works for the police. Of those who are married, many have Israeli spouses.“Using the Vietnamese vernacular is a symbol of adherence to the old established Vietnamese community,” Huynh says. “Showing vernacular loyalty is equivalent to showing community loyalty.”In “The Journey of Vaan Nguyen,” 21-year-old Vaan’s father, Hoi May Nguyen, speaks to her in Vietnamese and she often answers him in Hebrew. On a visit to Vietnam her uncle admonishes her, “You have to nurture your Vietnamese characteristics. Otherwise, you’ll be a foreigner and your kids will be foreign.”File:Flickr - Government Press Office (GPO) - Vietnamese refugees walking to the waiting room at the Ben Gurion Air Terminal January 24, 1979Vaan describes how growing up, when her friends asked if she was fasting on Yom Kippur, she would often say yes, because it was easier.“I was embarrassed by my parents and then I would apologize for them and hate the white, condescending society. I became angry and rude and ended up hating myself, looking for ways to reconcile everyone. I was ungrateful to my family, the state [of Israel], community of any kind,” she says.Her parents, meanwhile, while grateful to have been taken in, are consumed with longing for Vietnam and the idea of returning there. The problem is the Communists confiscated the family’s lands and have no intention of returning them, as becomes clear in the course of the film.“There is nothing for me here,” says Vaan’s mother to Vaan’s younger sister, Hong Wa, in the documentary. “I want to go back and be with your grandmother. I will take you with me. None of my girls learned how to write. You can learn the Vietnamese alphabet so that when your father and I die you can write to the family.”But Hong Wa bursts into tears. I want to stay in Israel, she says.The minority who stayedAccording to a spokesman for the Vietnamese Embassy in Tel Aviv, there are 150-200 refugees and their descendants still living in Israel. Huynh adds that more than half of the original Vietnamese refugees have left Israel, mostly for Europe and North America, where they were reunited with their extended families.Prime minister Menachem Begin greets Vietnamese refugees who were absorbed in Afula, June 26, 1980 (Herman Chanania/GPO)One of the most famous emigres is Dao Wong, who headed Bank Hapoalim’s operations in Singapore and now resides in Switzerland.“I think the main motivation for leaving was to connect to a bigger community in Paris, Los Angeles and San Francisco,” Duki Dror, the film’s director, tells The Times of Israel. “They would like to preserve their cultural continuity and here it’s hard to do.”Of the refugees who stayed in Israel, most live in or near Jaffa and Bat Yam.Sabine Huynh (Vietnamese: Sabine Huynh; born 1972) is a Vietnamese-born French–Israeli writer, poet, translator, and literary critic, who has lived in Israel since 2001.As part of her research, Huynh approached 32 families — over 150 people — with a request to fill out the questionnaire she had designed; only 34 agreed. Eight of 25 second-generation refugees Huynh interviewed said they worked in the food preparation industry, many at Asian-themed restaurants, while others worked in factories and some first-generation women worked as hotel chambermaids.Out of 34 people surveyed (both first- and second-generation), 14 had only primary education, while 13 also had some secondary education and five attended college (three in Israel and two in Vietnam). Sixteen were Buddhist, seven were Catholic, 10 claimed to follow no religion and one had converted to Judaism.In a recent article in Ynet, Vaan Nguyen said she herself is undergoing a Reform conversion to Judaism.Forgotten, yet all too visibleOne scene in Duki Dror’s film shows the kind of attention Vietnamese-Israelis attract even when they are behaving like everyone else. Here, Vaan accompanies her family to the IDF induction center where her 18-year-old sister, Tihu, is about to join the army. Hundreds of tearful parents are sending off their children and the Nguyen family is no exception.“Where are you from? “ the induction soldier asks Tihu.“From Vietnam,” she says in unaccented Hebrew.“You must have made aliyah [immigrated] a long time ago?”“Aliyah? I was born here.”“Are you the first Vietnamese person to join the army?“No, there have been others.”Then Tihu asks sheepishly, “Can I change my name?”Israeli poet Vaan Nguyen has served in the army and feels Israeli - except for her looks. (Sivan Tzadok)Sabine Huynh is all too familiar with the feeling of extra scrutiny in a country where people of East Asian descent comprise a tiny percentage of the population.“People constantly mistake me for a Filipino, Thai, Japanese, Chinese, Korean…(sigh).”In the film, Vaan Nguyen describes the ordeal a simple trip to the grocery store could be.“I want to go to the grocery store without people invading my privacy. Stop asking me questions because something about me is suspicious or because you think I’m fascinating,” she declares.“Enough with the interrogations and the expectation that I will politely respond that I was born in Israel, that my parents came as Vietnamese refugees in 1979 when the late Menachem Begin, as a humanitarian gesture, decided to absorb some boat people out of a historical Jewish identification with the conditions of persecution and exile.”She goes on: “No, I am not Jewish. No, I don’t know if I’ll convert or if my children will be circumcised. Yes, I am equally sorry for every human being that died in the last intifada. I don’t deny the Holocaust…I have no idea how to tell the difference between Chinese, Japanese, Thai and Korean people. No, I don’t think my eyes are slanted because I ate rice every day as a child…No, I am not related to Bruce Lee or Jackie Chan.”“Now will you please just let me live in peace?”In service of Israeli Armed ForcesIn her paper, Huynh writes that the Vietnamese refugee community has mixed feelings about attention from the broader society.“Their existence here was born from an Israeli prime minister’s initiative, but [the community’s] people, after receiving Israeli citizenship, were almost completely forgotten, to the point that they are now constantly mistaken for foreign workers from Asia. Moreover, since they have mixed feelings about that, they do not want any attention drawn to themselves. ‘If they forgot us, then let it be, let us be forgotten for good,’ was a sentence I heard often.”An encounter in a Chinese restaurantDetermined to interview Vietnamese refugees, this reporter discovered a restaurant in Bat Yam that was described on the Internet as “the best Chinese restaurant you’ve never heard of,” owned by a husband-and-wife team of Vietnamese refugees.Bat Yam is as shabby as Tel Aviv is fashionable but the Pek-Hai Chinese restaurant, located near the beach, has retro-1980s decor and a hipster clientele.Asked if he could be interviewed, a 50-ish Vietnamese man smoking outside said, “No, I am just a cook, go inside and talk to the management.”Inside the Peh-Hai Chinese Restaurant (Simona Weinglass/Times of Israel)Inside, a woman who appeared to be his wife, said in fluent Hebrew, “No, my Hebrew is not good enough.”Why do you think people in the Vietnamese community are so reluctant to be interviewed?The woman smiles and shrugs.Is it because you want to be left in peace?The woman nods, a glint of assent in her eye, then looks away. The conversation is over.A peaceful lifeIn Dror’s film, archival footage shows a Jewish Agency teacher lecturing the refugees on their new life in Israel“I ask a question,” he says in Yiddish-inflected English. “What can you do here? If you want to be honest citizens and you want to join us in our peaceful life here, you have to learn maybe new ways of living, new ways of behavior. And try to work honestly wherever it is possible, to enable your families a good, peaceful life.”Vietnamese arrivals at Ben Gurion Airport, January 24, 1979 (Sa’ar Ya’acov/GPO)Working hard and living peacefully is more or less what the refugees did.According to Huynh, the refugees she met worked an average of 10 hours a day, six days a week. Vaan Nguyen describes how her parents spent a lot of time working while she was growing up.“My parents weren’t at home a lot and so what I got from my childhood was Israeliness. As much as they tried to make me Vietnamese, they didn’t succeed. Well, maybe a bit.”There is a thread of sadness that runs through the documentary, the heartbreak of immigrant parents watching their children grow up with foreign ideas, habits and aspirations. At the same time, the children feel torn between embracing the new culture and feeling rejected by it, while wanting to reject it in return out of loyalty to their parents.Vaan Nguyen with her father (Courtesy: Duki Dror)In fact, the State of Israel was founded by people who faced a dilemma similar to Vaan Nguyen’s. Modern Hebrew writers like Micha Yosef Berdichevsky and Yosef Chaim Brenner had left the shtetl but couldn’t feel at home in Israel either.Berdichevsky wrote, “If God [leads a person] to wander far from the city of their birth, the land of their forefathers into exile, they will open their eyes in the new place and look around but in their heart they will always carry the memory of their father and mother for the rest of their life. Whatever happens to them, the air of their homeland will rest in the secret places of their soul, like the light of a new moon..and whoever is not this way, who can easily throw off the majestic feelings of their youth, is not a creature of God.”Duki Dror (via Facebook)Among second-generation Vietnamese Israelis, writes Huynh, there are various coping strategies: some assimilate, some emigrate and a minority express loyalty to their Vietnamese roots by marrying spouses from Vietnam and speaking Vietnamese at home.But when a community is so small, assimilation is almost inevitable. That’s why Begin’s absorption of a mere 360 Vietnamese refugees (out of a total of 2 million worldwide) may or may not be a test case for welcoming future asylum seekers. Assimilation is painful, perhaps not for the host culture, but for the people pressured to give up a way of life passed down for generations.In the meantime, Israel’s tiny Vietnamese minority is not keen on talking to reporters.“I think the Vietnamese community aren’t publicity hounds,” Duki Dror, the film’s director tells the Times of Israel. “They’re low-key. Also, they feel more and more Israeli, so they don’t all of a sudden want to talk about how they are different. Refugees are an issue that is controversial. On the one hand they would probably say, ‘Of course [they should be let in], that’s how millions of Vietnamese were saved and we contribute to society.’ On the other hand they don’t want to take a position against the state or the people who are opposed to bringing Syrian refugees here.”As for the community itself, a handful have given interviews to Hebrew media. Vaan Nguyen herself gave an indication of her feelings in a recent article she wrote in Ynet.“Whenever there is a humanitarian crisis somewhere, I get calls from various media outlets asking to interview me about the refugee experience. I don’t feel like a refugee. I’m the daughter of refugees.”Nevertheless, she writes, “compassion has no race and Bibi [Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu] will only enhance his resume if he absorbs a few hundred refugees who will not change Israel’s demographic balance one iota. My family is not thriving here, but they have hope and a future. It’s all relative: at least we’re alive.Vietnamese Boat People in Israel (Jewish Virtual Library)Vietnamese 'boat people' become Israeli (jpost.com)Children of Vietnamese Refugees enlist in the IDF (The Mike Report)May 6, 2013In the summer of 1977 thousands of leaking, untrustworthy rafts and boats bobbed in the vast open waters of the South China Sea. Each of the frail vessels was crowded with frightened, parched refugees, embracing the likely death of the ocean waters over the certain death of remaining in Vietnam. While some found safe harbor the passengers of one particular leaky fishing boat crossed paths with an Israeli cargo ship and by so doing found a home. The Times of Israel tells the story of that particular group of survivors which you can read at this LINK.The children and grandchildren of these once stateless souls have grown up as Israelis in the Jewish state. They speak Hebrew fluently, are ever grateful for their adopted homeland and even serve in the Israel Defense Forces. Watch the video link below to view the emotional moment when an Israeli-Vietnamese family accompany their children to their enlistment in the IDF.Vietnamese Sabras Join IDFFor Israel’s female soldiers, a delicate balance between equality and military realitiesFrom left to right, Staff Sgt. Maya, Sgt. Noam and Brigadier General (Res.) Gila Klifi-Amir at a Friends of the Israel Defense Forces program April 3 in New York City. Credit: Shiryn Ghermezian.Gender is not the only issue these soldiers grapple with. Sgt. Noam, 19, who was born in Vietnam and adopted as an infant by an IDF soldier’s widow, discussed the challenge of training medical personnel in reserve units and getting the trainees to respect her because of her youth.“Most of the people are 40-years-old or 35, and I’m so young,” she said. “A doctor who has so much experience, how can I tell him what to do? It’s challenging. How can I teach him from the beginning? Because the medical material [learned] in a civilian’s life is not the same as in the army. And some operations done in the civilian world are much harder [to perform in the army].”Her Vietnamese background has attracted some unwanted attention from Israelis. Due to Israel’s relatively low East Asian-born population, she said, people probe her about her family and physical appearance, and wonder how she can speak Hebrew so well.“My favorite question is, ‘What are you?’ So sometimes I just answer that I’m an alien and that you should take me to your leader,” Noam said.Israeli-Vietnamese woman serves in the Israel Defense ForcesIn 1977, an Israeli cargo ship off the coast of Japan spotted a leaking boat crammed with 66 Vietnamese refugees.Despite SOS signals, the refugees, who were out of food and water, had been ignored by passing ships from East Germany, Norway, Japan and Panama.The Israeli ship rescued the refugees and took them to Israel.In keeping with the humanistic culture of Israel, all the refugees were immediately granted Israeli citizenship (as had earlier groups of Vietnamese refugees), Hebrew courses and full absorption benefits.Today, Israelis of Vietnamese descent became the same as anyone else and are in the army.'Miraculous' Vietnamese community of Israel'Vietnam: Israel’s closest ASEAN partner - New MandalaGrowing ties could help narrow Vietnam’s development gap.Israel’s relations with ASEAN countries have not received a great deal of attention. In reality, however, there is an increasing tendency of Israel to benefit from the growing economies of Southeast Asia.Relations between Israel and Vietnam typify this trend. While many countries in the region have been reluctant, or at least careful, in pursuing relationship with the Jewish state, Vietnam enjoys a relatively strong relationship with Israel.Even though contacts between Israel and Vietnam can be traced back to the 1970s, when a large number of Vietnamese migrated to Israel to escape prosecution and torture, formal bilateral cooperation between the two countries was established in mid-1993.Since then, Hanoi and Tel Aviv have witnessed remarkable developments in their relationship with reciprocal visits at various levels and the establishment of diplomatic representative offices.Interestingly, an important part of cooperation between Israel and Vietnam is the military. Even though Israel’s arms overtures to Vietnam have only recently increased, it has a long rooted history of military contacts with Hanoi, particularly with the presence of people of Vietnamese descent serving in the Israeli Defense Force (IDF).The most important development in Israeli-Vietnamese military cooperation was the 2012 visit by Israel’s Ministry of Defense general director Udi Shani and representatives from SIBAT Defense Export and Defense Cooperation to see potential prospects in Vietnam.A plan was subsequently made by Israel Weapon Industries Ltd to open a light-arms plant with an investment of over $100 million. The plant helps to manufacture and to supply Israel’s AS advanced version of the Galil infantry rifle.The most recent development took place early this year when the Vietnamese government purchased an air defense missile system to enhance its air defense capacity. What is also remarkable is that Israel’s Air Defense and Air Force Service conducted an English course for its units assigned to receive, manage, and exploit these new weapons and equipment in Hanoi in April this year.Given Vietnam’s large military and obsolete weapons systems, Israel could be expected to play a considerable role in upgrading the country’s defense systems and its technologies. Thus it is not surprising that last year the two countries signed an MoU on defense cooperation and Israel has opened a defense attaché in Vietnam.Economic relations have sharply increased in recent years, especially after the signing of a bilateral economic and trade agreement in 2004. This was further strengthened in 2009 when both governments inked an agreement on double tax avoidance, creating a transparent and healthy legal environment for their businesses to increase transactions.Recent reports suggest that the trade volume between the two countries is expected to be more than $1 billion, with Israeli exports jumping by 120 per cent. Vietnam mainly exports agricultural products, garments, and electronic equipment while it imports fertilizer, machinery, equipment, as well as electronic parts from Israel. There are hundreds of Israeli companies, such as Iscar, that have made their way to Vietnam.In 2011, Israel and Vietnam also signed a $250 million agreement involving financial protocol and maritime development. The deal came on the heel of increasing demand in Vietnam for Israeli products, especially agricultural products and technologies. This economic cooperation is expected to flourish in the coming years as both governments recently agreed on a free-trade agreement.Israel has been a considerable partner in Vietnam’s agricultural and dairy industries. Israeli firm SAE Afikim, for instance, has been running the $500 million project to supply 300 million liters of milk every year, produced by imported cows at 12 state-of-the-art mega dairies and a milk processing plants – all built with Israeli equipment and expertise.It was reported that the project is the largest of its kind in the world and the biggest ever undertaken by an Israeli firm. Additionally, a group of Israeli experts have also conducted courses on agriculture in Vietnam. There are also plans to expand cooperation into the fields of aquaculture and other fishery-related spheres.People-to-people exchanges have also contributed to the strengthening of the relationship. Besides a large number of Vietnamese workers in Israel, there are frequent meetings between politicians, businessmen, and academics.Both countries have also exerted efforts to promote their tourism to each other. To ease air connectivity, Air Vietnam has also opened a representative office in the Jewish state.In more recent years, Israel’s ties with Vietnam have expanded into different realms. Even though not widely reported, education has become an important element in Israel-Vietnam relations. It is reported that there are approximately 2,000 Vietnamese students studying agriculture in Israel. Other exchanges are taking place in the realms of culture, biotech, information technology, and communications.Relations have also been strengthened by humanitarian aid. In 2006 and 2007, for example, a team of 54 doctors and nurses from Israel headed out to nine remote areas of Vietnam to provide desperately needed medical care to Vietnamese.Besides providing medical care as well as distributed foods and clothing, the teams also provided a farm animal to every household in these areas to offer a long-term economic base to the impoverished villagers.Looking forward, Vietnam will continue to be Israel’s closest ally in ASEAN. While the bloc’s majority Muslim countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia face pressures and oppositions from inside, Vietnam does not have a similar challenge.In tandem with the forthcoming ASEAN Economic Community, Vietnam offers Israel not only a gateway to large investment opportunities, but also provides a way to expand to the wider ASEAN region. With no sign to an end to the instability in the Middle East, it is not surprising that Israel sees the growing economies of Southeast Asia as prudent alternatives.Meanwhile from Vietnam’s view, Israel’s growing presence is welcome.Israel’s top-notch renewable and farming technologies are fundamental to realising its agricultural abilities. Tel Aviv could also offer an access to untapped consumer markets and perhaps a hub for expansion in the wider Middle East.Simultaneously, Israel’s ventures are waited as the country is in need of billions of dollars in investment to revamp its economy and bring down unemployment.All in all, this expanding relationship could help minimise the developmental gap between Vietnam and other ASEAN countries.Muhammad Zulfikar Rakhmat is a PhD scholar at the University of Manchester.