India’s Complex Relationship with Israel: A Historical Overview
From Nehru to Modi: The evolution of India-Israel relations
When Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, countries worldwide firmly condemned it. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called this attack a terrorist attack. However, when Israel started committing genocide in Gaza, violating the rules of war, many countries around the world took a stand against Israel. The Modi government also reiterated India’s long-standing stance of supporting the establishment of an “independent and sovereign Palestinian state.”
India’s policy on relations with Israel has always been fluctuating. India was the first non-Arab country to vote against Israel’s inclusion in the United Nations in 1948. It was also the first non-Arab country to recognize the Palestine Liberation Organization in 1974 and the state of Palestine in 1988. However, in 1992, India established diplomatic relations with Israel and opened its embassy in Tel Aviv.
During the 1962 war with China, a significant amount of weapons and ammunition were obtained from Israel, when the Congress government led by Nehru was in power in India. Similarly, during the wars with Pakistan in 1965 and 1971, India bought weapons on a large scale from Israel. In 1965, the Congress government was led by Lal Bahadur Shastri, and in 1971 by Indira Gandhi. In 1968, Indira Gandhi established the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), which secretly collaborated with Mossad. Between 1977 and 1979, Israeli Foreign Minister Moshe Dayan visited India. In 1985, Israel attacked the headquarters of the Palestine Liberation Organization in Tunisia, killing 60 people, which was immediately condemned by the United Nations. A month after this incident, on the occasion of the 14th anniversary of the United Nations, Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi went to New York, where he had a secret meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres, despite Israel being on the back foot due to the brutal attack on the PLO.
After Yasser Arafat accepted the Oslo Accords under the two-state solution in 1993, the way was opened for India to further strengthen its relations with Israel. Since then, every central government in India has, on the one hand, expressed support for Palestine and provided aid to Palestine, while on the other hand, made agreements with Israel behind the scenes on military, cyber security, and counter-terrorism. When the pro-Palestinian Congress government returned in 2004, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh further strengthened defense and economic relations with Tel Aviv. Before the first BJP government from 1998 to 2004, deals for Israeli UAVs, Green Pine radar systems, and long-range surface-to-air missiles were already ongoing. Even after the fall of the Vajpayee government, military agreements and trade relations with Israel continued to grow. In 1992, trade between Israel and India was 200 million dollars. By 2023, this trade has reached 4.4 billion dollars. From 2003 to 2013, India was Israel’s largest customer. During these ten years, nine years were under the pro-Palestinian Congress government, and only one year under BJP rule. In 2017, Narendra Modi became the first Indian Prime Minister to visit Israel, although he balanced this by also visiting Palestine under the Mahmoud Abbas government in a grand manner.
When discussing the ground reality and public sentiment on Israel and Palestine in India, we find that a large section of the public supports Palestine. On the other hand, a significant portion supports Israel due to their hatred towards Muslims. This group is deeply immersed in Islamophobia and fully endorses Israel’s oppression and ongoing genocide in Gaza.
People worldwide are protesting against Israel in their respective countries. In countries like the USA, UK, France, and Germany, large-scale public protests are being held in support of Palestine and against Israel, even though the governments of these countries openly support Israel. In India, if people protest in support of Palestine, they are arrested, and cases are filed for raising the Palestinian flag. However, nothing is done when the Israeli flag is raised or rallies are held in support of Israel. The Indian government appears to support its long-standing stance on Palestine at the global level, but in India, on the ground, pro-Palestine supporters face legal cases, arrests, and police actions.
During the swearing-in ceremony of the newly elected members of the Indian Parliament after the Lok Sabha elections, Asaduddin Owaisi, President of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), raised the slogan “Jai Palestine” which means “ Long Live Palestine “ in support of Palestine. For this, he faced significant trolling and demands for his suspension. Hindutva supporters made hateful statements against him in the media and on social media. This shows that India’s Israel policy is contradictory at the global level and the domestic level.
