Union Minister Nitin Gadkari recently shared a startling experience from 2024, when he met Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh just hours before Haniyeh was assassinated in Tehran. Speaking at a book launch, Gadkari said he had attended the swearing-in ceremony of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in July 2024 at the request of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He recalled noticing a man among the dignitaries who was not representing any country. “I shook hands and asked, and I got to know that he was the chief of Hamas,” Gadkari said, describing how Haniyeh had been given special priority by the Iranian government and was accompanied by the president and the chief justice.
Gadkari recounted being woken up at 4 a.m. by the Indian ambassador, who told him that Haniyeh had been killed in his hotel room. “The Hamas leader who was here yesterday, a powerful man, was killed in his room,” he said. Iranian authorities later confirmed that Haniyeh was assassinated around 1:15 a.m. on July 31, 2024, inside a secure military complex under the supervision of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. His bodyguard was also killed. While the exact method of the attack remains unclear, Iranian officials said a short-range projectile was used, and some reports suggested explosives may have been planted inside the guesthouse. Hamas and the IRGC accused Israel of carrying out the killing.
Gadkari highlighted the incident to stress the importance of technology in modern warfare and national security. “No one knows from where the missile was fired, where it entered… the coming time is futuristic, technology and futuristic vision for development in defence, agriculture, industry, trade, business export – we will have to do all this,” he said. He added that nations with strong technological and military capabilities are difficult to target, citing Israel as an example. Gadkari said that advanced technology is now central to protecting countries, maintaining security, and ensuring global influence.
