India moves toward closer ties with Israel.... India made headlines last week when a local newspaper reported that Prime Minister Narendra Modis recently elected government might stop its near-automaticsupport for the Palestinian Authority in the diplomatic arena. Such a move, which at this point is purely speculative, would mark a significant change in Indias voting pattern in the UN and could be seen as an attempt to move closer to Israel.We should be very careful with this because these are media reports and no diplomats or foreign policy officials have made statements, P.R. Kumaraswamy, a professor of West Asian studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, told The Media Line. But if that happens, then itll be the most dramatic event in the last two decades, he said.Though both were established as independent state in 1948, India has had diplomatic relations with Israel only since 1992, when bilateral trade initiated that year amounted to $100 million. Today, it stands in excess of $5 billion.Indias policy goal of moving closer to countries like Israel, Japan and the United States, are aimed at furthering the nations economic development.Taken in this light, Indias willingness to tipthe diplomatic scale in Israels favor over the Palestinians is understandable. The Palestinian question doesnt give you the kind of economic development India is looking for, explained Kumaraswamy.Its an economic priority, not a political one. In that context, Indias engagement will be on the economic agenda in the Middle East, not on political friendships and things like that. And whichever country is willing to be a part of Indias economic development will be a priority.India has been buying Israeli technology inseveral areas, including agriculture, water treatment, waste-management and recycling, prompting several Israeli companies working in these areas to expand into India. Importantly, Israel has become one of Indias most important defense suppliers, behind only Russia and the United States, and there has been collaboration between India and Israel in defense technologies.Relations with India are very close and very good, and it has certainly improved in recent years, Emmanuel Nachshon, spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry,told The Media Line. Its been a long standing process, and in the last decade relations are becoming increasingly good in diplomatic and political activities. A few years ago we opened a general consulate in Bangalore... and its been extremely successful.Despite the upward surge in the relationship, Israel and India has always had what Kumaraswamy called the third person in the room. India has been doing a diplomatic balancing act between Israel and the Palestinians, managing to maintain strong relations with both parties; something reflected in New Delhisseemingly unwavering support for the Palestinians at the United Nations. And both countries also had reservations about the others partnerships, such as Indias connection to Iran and Israels relationship with China.Both (Modi and Netanyahu) are aiming fora closer relationship, but India cannot deny its relationship with the Arab world, and even though Israel has some reservations regarding Indias relationship with Iran, India still sees Iran as an important partner, Ayelet Harel-Shalev, assistant professor at the Department of Politics and Government at Israels Ben Gurion University, told The Media Line.Recent elections saw India shift rightward, led by Modis Bharatiya Janata Party. Its warming of political ties with Israel mirror the circumstances that led to the establishment of a relationship between the two countries over 20 years ago, when a right-wing government was also in power.The right is more sympathetic to Israel than the left and more likely to have diplomatic and economic ties with Israel, as it did in the 90s, Harel-Shalev said.And now we have the right-wing in power again and were starting all over again to make the relationship with Israel stronger.The India-Israel relationship is also growing stronger in terms of personal engagement by both countries leaders. Increased public interactions between Israeli and Indian officials, like a Novembervisit to Israel by the Indian interior minister, where an agenda for homeland security collaboration was drawn up, all signals that the relationship may be coming out of the closet, a journalist working in India told The Media Line.The exchange by Twitter of greetings during Chanukah between Modi and Netanyahu – each in the others language - also demonstrates how ties between the two nations are becoming increasingly public.
Posted on: Mon, 05 Jan 2015 06:29:22 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015