How India-Israel ties progressed: from Palestine-leaning to a strategic embrace of the Jewish nation
Context- As Hamas, the militant group ruling the Gaza Strip, mounted one of the most audacious attacks on Israel — many have called it the worst inside the Jewish state’s territory since its creation in 1948 — Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed shock at what he called “terrorist attacks” and conveyed “solidarity with Israel”.
While the Ministry of External Affairs is yet to come out with an official statement, the Prime Minister’s words have been seen as siding with Israel.
In the years post Independence
- India’s political attitude towards Israel was set quite firmly shortly after independence in 1947, when Jawaharlal Nehru and Mahatma Gandhi vowed to support the Palestinian cause as they rejected the idea of two nations on the basis of religion.
- While they had sympathy for the Jews, both were of the view that any State based on religious exclusivity could not sustain on moral and political grounds. This was in sync with their opposition to the partition of India.
- India’s position with regard to Palestine was also guided by the general consensus in the Arab world, the Non-Aligned Movement, and the United Nations.
- When the partition of Palestine plan was put to vote at the UN, India voted against, along with the Arab countries.
- When Israel applied for admission to the UN, India again voted against. New Delhi, however, recognised Israel on September 17, 1950, after two Muslim-majority countries, Turkey and Iran, did so.
- In 1953, Israel was allowed to open a consulate in Mumbai, but no diplomatic presence was granted in New Delhi.
- In the late 1960s and early 70s, with the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) emerging as the representative of the people of Palestine under Yasser Arafat, India developed its engagement with the largest political grouping under PLO
- On January 10, 1975, India recognised PLO as the sole and legitimate representative of the Palestinian people and permitted it an independent office at New Delhi.
- While India was one of the last non-Muslim states to recognise Israel, it became the first non-Arab state to recognise the PLO.
Under Indira and Rajiv Gandhi
- In 1980, when Indira Gandhi returned to power with a thumping majority, she continued her support to the Palestinian struggle. India upgraded the PLO office to that of an embassy endowed with all diplomatic immunities and privileges.
- Arafat became a frequent visitor to Delhi through the early 80s, and the relationship between India and Palestine strengthened.
- In March 1983, when the NAM summit took place in India, it came up with a strong statement of solidarity for Palestine.
- Rajiv Gandhi continued with India’s approach towards Palestine, and throughout the outbreak of the Palestinian intifada (uprising) in December 1987 in Gaza and West Bank due to the ‘iron fist’ policies of Israel, India maintained its steadfast support.
Ground shifts
- However, by this time, there were critics of New Delhi’s Palestine policy and its outright support to the Arab world within India.
- The Arab countries’ neutral position during the 1962 India-China war and their support to Pakistan during the 1965 and 1971 wars did not go down well with many, including the BJP. On the other hand, Israel helped India with arms and ammunition in the 1962 and 1965 wars.
- Things changed in West Asia when Iraq invaded Kuwait in August 1990. The PLO lost its political leverage on account of its support to Saddam Hussain. Around that time, the Soviet Union disintegrated, and this prompted India to make drastic changes in its policy towards West Asia.
- It established full diplomatic relations with Israel in January 1992, days after the Chinese established diplomatic relations with Tel Aviv.
- The end of the Cold War weakened the Non-Aligned Movement and reduced the ideological hostility towards Israel.The emergence of the BJP as a powerful force in Indian politics in early 1990s also removed some hesitations about Israel.
Military ties and the Kargil war
- The establishment of full diplomatic ties with Israel came in especially handy during the Kargil conflict in 1999. The Indian Air Force desperately needed precision target bombs as Pakistani intruders were hiding in caves and bunkers atop mountains in Kargil.
- The IAF reached out to their Israeli counterparts, who wasted no time. They are understood to have dug into their emergency stockpiles and shipped the weapons to India, which proved to be decisive in the hour of need.
- After this, the Vajpayee government sent Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh for the first bilateral visit in 2000.
- After Modi came to power, there has been much more visibility to the relationship.During Modi’s visit to Israel in 2017 — the first Prime Ministerial visit — he skipped the customary stop at Palestine, which was the norm with previous ministerial visits.
- The Modi government, however, had been quite careful about setting up this visit. South Block made sure that the Prime Minister visited Saudi Arabia, Iran, Qatar, and UAE — all regional rivals of Israel — between 2014 and 2017, before the trip to Israel.
In the past decade
- In the last decade or so, ties have deepened in security, defence, and connectivity with Israel, but also with partners in West Asia — Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatar and Iran.
- The Indian strategic approach to engage with all sides in the complex West Asian region is born out of necessity: the 90 lakh-strong Indian community in the region and connectivity to West Asia and Europe.
- Crucially, more than 50% of India’s energy imports are sourced from West Asia.
Conclusion- The spate of horrifying surprise attacks over the weekend puts India in a diplomatic tight spot. This is because the current hostility tests the Abraham Accords and the efforts towards rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Israel, which held the promise of reshaping age-old fault lines in the Middle East.
Syllabus- GS-2; International Relations
Source- Indian Express
