The issue of drug use by young Israeli backpackers in India and their misdemeanours recently rocked the Israeli Knesset with lawmakers urging to take immediate steps to change Israel's image in India.

"Firstly, India is a country with a huge influence in the world. Secondly, I see it also as a missed opportunity for many of these youngsters in the prime of their lives," Chairman of the India-Israel Parliamentary Friendship Group, lawmaker Shlomo Breznitz, who initiated the discussion in the Knesset, told PTI.

"Most of these youngsters travel to India immediately after finishing their army service and spend this time with very little in-depth knowledge of the host country and are concentrated at certain centres with hardly any interaction with the local population," Breznitz noted.

He said that arrangements should be made so that backpackers traveling to India will volunteer to do some social work, in the process learning things about local culture and also leaving a good impression in India.

"It is also important for them as it can empower them and give them some sense of value and also keep them away from using drugs and indulging in other such behaviour which I think is totally unnecessary," Breznitz said.

Many of them are in search of just peace and quiet after the army service but six months is a long time for that and it could be better if they could be used in some useful projects in India using their skills, he said.

"Even if just 2 per cent of these people are chosen to do something it is more than a thousand people for the first year and it is a lot," Breznitz added.

 The minutes of the Knesset discussion says that certain steps have been outlined to change Israel's image in India with some influential parliamentarians participating in the debate.

The steps include providing tip brochures to backpackers to familiarise them with the local cultural sensitivities, putting these brochures also with travel agents and contact points in India, Israeli embassy to try reach out to gatherings informally, volunteering in social work, and coordinating with the education ministry, Drug Authority etc.

The matter has been referred to the influential Knesset Committee on Defence and Foreign Affairs.

The Israeli foreign ministry recently issued behavioural guidelines for Israeli tourists traveling to India asking them to avoid physical contact in public and a suggestion for women to wear less revealing attire, particularly shorts and tank tops.

They are also advised to honour sacred sites and customs including avoiding drinking alcohol and eating meat in certain holy cities that prohibit them.

Breznitz also expressed Israeli concerns over India's voting pattern at various UN forums where it always supports resolutions favouring Palestinians and condemns Israeli actions.

"India carries tremendous moral weight in the world and so it should be more cautious and balanced in the way it uses this moral authority and not to give a blank support to one side," he said.