2023-10-30 14:37:01
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi with his Israel counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu.
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@Netanyahu, X
V.K. Sanju
Two months before India got independence, a letter came from Germany in the name of Jawaharlal Nehru. Sent by the famous scientist Albert Einstein. The letter sought India’s support for efforts to establish a separate state for the Jews. Nehru found it difficult to refuse Einstein’s request. But, considering the position of other Indian leaders, it might not be accepted.
In 1947, India voted once morest partitioning Palestine and establishing the Jewish state of Israel in the United Nations. But Britain’s interest was fulfilled and the Jewish state was established. India also voted once morest the new country’s membership in the United Nations in 1949.
Albert Einstein and Jawaharlal Nehru in 1949, USA.
Hindu Nationalism and Jewish Nationalism
The position of national leaders including Mahatma Gandhi on the issue of Israel strongly influenced Nehru’s decisions. Only those who worked on the basis of Hindu nationalism generally took a pro-Israel stance in India at that time. Hindu Mahasabha leader Vinayak Damodar Savarkar gave moral and political support to the Israeli state establishment. He criticized India’s vote once morest Israel in the UN. RSS leader Madhav Sadashiv Golwalkar accepted Jewish nationalism and believed that Palestine was the natural territory for the Jews.
Gandhiji with two of his Jewish confidants in South Africa – Sonja Schlesin and Hermann Kallenbach, in 1913.
Gandhiji’s position
India’s history of being divided on the basis of religion and India’s close relationship with Arab countries have been reflected in India’s position on the formation of the state of Israel. Mahatma Gandhi’s view was that the demand of the Jews was justified and that their demand for Israel had historical relevance. However, he opposed the idea of forming a state on the basis of religion alone. His position was that the Arabs are the true heirs of Palestine. Gandhiji also opined that the Jews who came out to form Israel should go back to their native countries. It was in this context that Einstein wrote to Nehru and rejected his request.
Informal recognition
India recognized the country of Israel in 1950. It was only following that that Jawaharlal Nehru’s personal position on this issue was made public.
“We should have done this earlier. Because Israel is a fact. “We have not given recognition so far so as not to hurt the feelings of our friends in the Arab countries.”
Then Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru with Israeli Diplomat Michael Michael in 1950s.
Israel was allowed to open a consulate in Bombay (now Mumbai) within three years. However, India’s recognition was only informal for four decades. One of the reasons for that was the fear of the political leadership that there would be a decline in the Muslim vote bank. There is another concern that Indians working in Gulf countries will face difficulties. They were the main source of India’s foreign exchange reserves at that time. Apart from this, the lion’s share of India’s energy needs were met by oil from Arab countries.
Naturally, India’s inclination was towards the Palestine Liberation Organization and its leader Yasser Arafat. India, which was leaning towards the Soviet Union during the Cold War, even though it was at the forefront of the non-alignment policy, had a similar stance towards Palestine in the Israel-Palestine dispute. It was also aimed at preventing Pakistan from increasing its influence in Arab countries.
Palestine Liberation Organisation leader Yasser Arafat with then Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi and PV Narasimha Rao in New Delhi in 1980.
Formal recognition
Israel supported India in the 1971 India-Pakistan war, despite not having India’s open support. Even if that country’s anti-Muslim sentiment was a factor, important information passed on by Israel has helped India in multiple wars.
However, a fundamental change in India’s pro-Arab stance came only in 1992. That year, India officially established diplomatic relations with Israel and established an embassy in Tel Aviv. In the 1999 Kargil war too, India got Israel’s support, not only verbally, but also in the form of intelligence and weapons. Subsequently, there was a great growth in the defense cooperation between the two countries. The formation of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the organization’s neglect of Indian Muslims, and Pakistan’s barring of India from joining the organization had a significant impact on this policy change. However, even then, India was constantly criticizing Israel’s military operations in the Palestinian territories.
Important partner
By 2022, India will become Israel’s largest arms market. Israel is the second largest arms buyer following Russia. Today, regarding 42 percent of Israel’s arms exports go to India alone.
Defense cooperation between the two countries does not end with arms trade. This will include joint military training and exchange of security-related intelligence information. India is now Israel’s third largest trading partner in Asia.
Former Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj with Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during her visit to Israel.
After Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister, the relationship between India and Israel became warmer. Apart from the Sangh Parivar’s traditional pro-Israel stance, Modi’s friendship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may be a factor.
At the same time, it is also noteworthy that neither this friendship nor the Sangh Parivar policy has prompted India to make a ‘significant’ deviation in its non-alignment policy. India was ready to strongly condemn the attack by Hamas on Israel. He also led the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza. At the same time, he abstained from voting on the resolution once morest Israel in the United Nations Assembly.
India’s justification for not taking sides on the Russia-Ukraine issue is that Europe’s problems cannot be considered the world’s problems. Western countries have not been able to cooperate with India in the sanctions imposed on Russia. Meanwhile, Indian oil companies also profited from trade with Russia.
India is continuing the old policy of non-alignment, not taking sides with Israel either, but in a new way; If India’s practical interest in the global politics of that time was to support Palestine, in the present environment it has turned into the exact opposite.
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