Defence, Diplomacy, Dilemmas: India's Strategic Shift towards Israel  

PART 1

06 FEBRUARY, 2024

It is another sensitive and controversial topic, but then we do like to keep the neutrality of the issues and try to bring as much detail and analysis from the journalistic point of view as possible.


Gaza, Palestine and Israel are at the top of the news these days, and so is India’s role in the ongoing Gaza crisis.


This topic has become vital today because for Israel, India is the largest importer of Israeli defence products, and for India, Israel is the second largest exporter of defence goods after Russia. 



Over the period from 1948, when Israel was formed, until 2024, when the Gaza crisis is happening, India’s position regarding Israel has changed radically.



There are lots of factors that contributed to Israel’s relationship with India.


So, in this two-part series, we will go through the history of the relationship between India and Israel.


Furthermore, what were the global events, domestic events, and situations led to India-Israel building the relationship? 


In 2024 and going forward, what will be the consequences and risks India will face? How will foreign policy balance the situation?


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...but they opposed the creation of Israel on religious lines.

                              


India’s relationship with the state of Israel dates back to 1948 when the United Nations was discussing the formation of the state of Israel out of Palestine. 


At the time, India itself was undergoing the pain and bruises of a tragic and bloody partition of 1947, which was based on religious lines. 


Though Indian independence leaders like Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru believed that the Jews had a good case and had a prior claim for the state of Israel, but they opposed the creation of Israel on religious lines.


It was more of an ideological stance that India took on the world stage, and at the United Nations in 1949, India voted against the partitioning of Palestine. 


Hindu nationalist supporters and sympathisers like Hindu Mahasabha and RSS, they did support the creation of Israel on moral and political grounds, and also they did condemn India’s vote at the UN against Israel.


So, according to them, Jewish nationalism was justified, and Palestine was the natural territory of Jewish people, especially for the aspiration of nationhood for Jews. 


However, then, as an international law-abiding nation, India, in 1958, recognised the state of Israel and later approved the opening of the Israeli consulate in Bombay. 


Not all countries of the world recognise Israel. Out of 193 member states of the United Nations, 28 members do not recognise Israel, 15 of them are from the Arab League, ten from non-Arabic nations and three others like Cuba, North Korea and Venezuela.


According to foreign policy experts, India did lay low on the Israeli-India relationship, that is because India did not want to disturb the relationship with Arab countries. 


At the time, going against the Arab world would have meant divisive politics in India. At the time again, India was sitting on edge for yet another partition based on religious lines. So, India was to be protected.

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Not all countries of the world recognise Israel

                              



In the 60s, 70s, and 80s, the relationship between India and Israel continued to be informal, and India didn’t want to disturb its relationship with the Arab countries because they were India's most significant oil suppliers.


 Moreover, that was an essential resource to keep India running.


Also, as the economy developed and emigration increased, the hard currency remittance from migrants from the Middle East and the Gulf nations was important for India’s economy.


During that time, the Indian National Congress were in the government. Their vote bank was dependent on the Muslim population. 


Hence, they did not want to prejudice its electoral prospect by disregarding the emotions of the Muslim population, especially those who were sympathetic to the cause of Palestine. 


It was a mix of ideological stances and the necessity of economics and domestic politics.


However, then came the 80s and 90s, and after that, the geopolitical development, the consequential ones, happened quickly and fast, drastically changing the relationship between India and Israel.



The first geopolitical event came with the breakup of the Soviet Union.


USSR no longer existed, but India was still heavily dependent on the USSR and Russia for their military hardware supplies. 


Also, the international politics was played in a unipolar world, with the US at the top of the game. Therefore, aligning India’s interests with the US and its allies was necessary.


So, in a way, India was trying to make up for the loss of support from Russia; therefore, promptly India established formal diplomatic relations with Israel.


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The first geopolitical event came with the breakup of the Soviet Union

                              


It opened an embassy in Tel Aviv in January of 1992. Then, a few years later, in 1998, came India’s pursuit of a nuclear agenda, and we see that India was subjected to sanctions by the US and its allies.


At this point, Israel came to India’s support, ignoring the sanctions and the restrictions imposed by the United States.


Until now, we can see that India’s relationship with Israel was warming up and still was based on principles, issue-based and international trade.


Then came the 1999 Kargil war, and that is when India realised that it required a robust border surveillance system for its ultra-high altitude border with Pakistan. 


Those borders, including the Kargil area, are about 140 kilometres long and encounter a hostile neighbourhood like Pakistan.


By then, Israel had already developed sophisticated border surveillance, which would be handy for India.


The Indian and Israeli leadership also realised that both countries have hostile neighbourhoods and they are powerful; therefore, the defence technologies that both countries require are similar in nature.


Also, for their democracies to survive, they needed a strong defence. Having lost the capabilities of Russian defence supplies, the Indian leadership understood that, they had to smartly manage the US political and defence lobbies, which the Jewish Americans controlled.



9/11 attacks happened, and the US enters into a War on Terror in Afghanistan. Interestingly, the US did not involve India or Israel in Afghanistan, even though India is a regional power.


It has a solid ancient relationship with Afghanistan but failed to find a place in resolving the Afghanistan issue. Instead, the US found a partner in Pakistan, where the relationship balance between the US and India changed in the region.


India then moved closer to Israel, as they were consoling partners after being left out.

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The Indian and Israeli leadership also realised that both countries have hostile neighbourhoods and they are powerful...

                              



Still, India was not openly and boldly in favour of the Israeli relationship, but then, India did not get much support from the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC).


Pakistan was playing a crucial role in creating an anti-India sentiment.



These events in the last 75 years have led to a change in India’s stance.


From ideological support for the cause of Palestine and voting against the formation of Israel to be an earnest partner in defence, agriculture, intelligence sharing and other geopolitical issues, India’s position has taken a U-Turn in 75 years. 


While India continues to walk a tightrope between its relationship with Israel and the US on one side and the Palestinian cause along with other Arab countries, there are serious risks we foresee.


India is home to about 30 crore Muslim sympathisers for the Palestinian cause. Any move by the Indian government that goes against the Palestinians has the potential to create unrest.


There are growing challenges with Israel and China’s defence deals, which will probably be used against India.

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India is home to about 30 crore Muslim sympathisers for the Palestinian cause

                              


India’s closeness to Iran is going against the Indian and Israeli relationship. Iran is the biggest existential threat to Israel, and any development of Iran will be viewed with suspicion by Israel.



India’s nuclear development brings about a nuclear arms race in the region. Pakistan plays a vital role in developing a nuclear defence system, which encourages the “Islamic Bomb”, as claimed by some countries.


India and Israel’s relations have changed the geopolitics of the region. It has the potential to change Indian domestic politics, too.

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