On Dalai lama, Israel, New Delhi’s new resolve
In what should be seen as a refreshing firmness in foreign policy, India has decided to host the Dalai lama at Arunachal Pradesh despite China's strong objection. Also, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to visit Israel sometime in July, and this trip will not have Palestine in his itinerary. Taken together, these two decisions are indicative that the Modi Government has the nerve to discard old notions of geopolitics and forge relations that keep India's interest foremost. The visit to Israel has been long overdue. No Indian Prime Minister has ever made the trip, and for this reason alone Modi's outreach is significant. New Delhi's past obsession with the hyphenation of Israel and Palestine has more to do with earlier regimes' desire to cater more to domestic political considerations than to the nation's priorities. What else can explain the anomaly of an Indian Prime Minister never having visited Israel in his official capacity despite the fact that India and Israel have shared close ties in fields as diverse as farming to defence to intelligence-gatheringIJ Israel's role in aiding India during the Kargil conflict is on record, as is its support to the latter at various international forums, including the United Nations. Israel is today among the top three suppliers of cutting-edge defence technology to India, and its contribution to revolutionising the Indian farming sector, particularly in irrigation needs, is well known. Besides, India-Israel cooperation in space exploration has been growing at a steady pace. With so much going, one should expect an Indian prime ministerial visit to Israel as a natural development. Now that the Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA has decided to break with tradition, it deserves acclaim. The fear that India's close friends, the Palestinians, would be upset with the outreach, is misplaced. Both Palestinian and Israeli leaders have been on and off interacting with each other, though unfortunately not with the desired results. The world too has moved on and various nations have developed sound ties with the two warring parties. There is no reason for India to be different. Its bonding with Palestine is not going to be fractured with Prime Minister Modi's visit to Israel — without a trip to Palestine just now. The de-hyphenation is something that Palestine must understand and appreciate. Back home, the Prime Minister's political rivals should also behave responsibly and not raise the issue out of parochial considerations. India's dealings with Israel are in the former's interest and not against Palestine's.
Similarly, New Delhi has brushed aside Beijing's concerns over hosting the Dalai lama in Arunachal Pradesh. China's problem is two-fold. The first is that it does not take kindly to the Buddhist spiritual leader being officially feted. And the second is that he is being hosted by the Indian authorities in a State, part of which China claims as its territory. On both these counts, the Modi Government has called Beijing's bluff. In the words of Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju, “It's a behavioural change you are seeing. India is more assertive.” It should be evident to China that while India is willing to continue being engaged in the dialogue process to resolve the border disputes — and various mechanisms are already in place to assist the process — it will not be brow-beaten.