India-Israel Relations: An Opportunity That Can’t Be Missed

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BENNETT SEFTEL

With the Middle East mired in a constant state of turmoil, reoccurring tectonic shifts across the region have encouraged new partnerships, sometimes between unlikely players. One such blossoming relationship is the India-Israel alliance.

“Israel and India have a firm alliance, between two peoples and two states with illustrious and greatly inspirational pasts,” Israeli President Reuven Rivlin affirmed during his visit to India last November.

Although both India and Israel were partitioned under the auspices of the British Empire and declared independence within a year of each other – India in 1947 and Israel in 1948 –interactions between the two nations haven’t always been smooth.

According to Dr. Shalom Solomon Wald, Senior Fellow at The Jewish People Policy Institute in Israel, throughout much of the 20th century, India’s position towards Israel was deeply affected by India’s alignment with several Arab states as well as with the Soviet Union.

“Effective lobbying by Palestinian leaders and rising nationalism in the Arab Middle East profoundly influenced India’s policies for 80 years,” explains Wald. “India’s leadership position in the Non-Aligned Movement alongside numerous Muslim countries and its quasi-alliance with the Soviet Union reinforced its decision to reject any political and diplomatic relations with Israel.”

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, however, the two nations turned a new page and officially established diplomatic relations in 1992. In 1997, Ezer Weizman became the first Israeli president to visit Israel, and India-Israel cooperation reached new heights when Israel covertly provided material support for India during the 1999 Kargil War between India and Pakistan.

Over the course of the last two decades, Indian and Israeli bilateral ties have strengthened at a steady pace. The two countries have bolstered their defense and intelligence exchanges, as Israel has sold new, cutting-edge military equipment to India, including anti-missile defense systems, advanced radar systems, unmanned aerial vehicles, and perhaps most significantly, the Phalcon Airborne Warning and Control System. On the counterterrorism front, both countries face significant terrorist threats and have increased intelligence and information-sharing, particularly after the 2008 Mumbai attacks in which several Israeli citizens were killed.

Tourism and trade between the two countries have also undergone a huge upswing in the last decade. Israel expects to welcome record numbers of Indian tourists this year, and trade between India and Israel achieved new heights last year, at $5 billion. Further collaboration between India and Israel in the agricultural, educational, and science and technological realms seems inevitable.

“There is much to learn from Israel, a country which has converted its disadvantages to advantages with courage, conviction and fortitude,” remarked Indian President Pranab Mukherjee during Rivlin’s trip in November. “I am happy to share the platform with the President of Israel, a country that has made a mark in agriculture through innovation, technology solutions and converting its knowledge into value additions.”

Although Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have yet to visit each other – in fact, the late Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s trip to India in 2003 remains the only prime ministerial visit by either country – the two leaders appear to be on positive terms.

“The two met at the United Nations General Assembly in September 2014 and the Paris Climate Summit in November 2015, and have also talked to each other over the telephone, including when Netanyahu thanked Modi for helping Israeli citizens during the Nepal earthquake of April 2015,” S. Samual Rajiv, Associate Fellow at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses based in India, tells The Cipher Brief.

Furthermore, various reports indicate that Modi is expected to visit to Israel this summer in a trip that “would be very apt as January 2017 marked the 25th anniversary of the establishment of official diplomatic relations between the two countries,” says Rajiv.

If Rivlin’s last trip to India is any indication, both the Indian and Israeli governments understand the importance of their strategic partnership, since the two countries are becoming increasingly dependent on each other and share many mutual interests.

“They assure us that when the time will come they will never, never, ever let anyone [act against] the existence of Israel,” said Rivlin. For his part, during Rivlin’s visit, Modi hugged the Israeli President at their joint press conference, telling Rivlin he “deeply valued their strong and growing partnership.”

And as instability grips much of the Middle East, the importance of nurturing strong relations with those offering open arms is an opportunity that can’t be missed.