India-Israel ties poised for a great leap forward
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meeting with former Israeli President Shimon Peres, who ends his three-day visit to India on November 8, and Union Minister for Home Affairs Rajnath Singh’s trip to Israel, where he met, among others, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, are indications of a surge in relationship between Israel and India with the coming of the Modi Government at the Centre. These engagements come weeks after Mr Modi met Mr Netanyahu on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly event in New York. While the bilateral between the two countries have been cordial for years now, especially since the days of the Atal Bihari Vajpayee regime, it had gone into a temporary freeze with the advent of the Manmohan Singh-led UPA Government, which was far too cautious in admitting to the strong ties for fear that that would annoy the Islamic world, especially Iran with whom New Delhi has many shared interests. But the world has moved on, and many countries in West Asia which had been hostile to Israel, now have some sort of a working relationship with their former foe. In any case, Israel has remained India’s staunch supporter, helping it out when the occasion demanded. On the table, there are a number of areas where Israel has contributed to India’s interests, such as in defence and irrigation projects. New Delhi’s recent indication that it will purchase anti-tank guided missiles from Israel is one in the long list of defence acquisitions from that nation. Mr Modi has personally had a long affair with Israel as Chief Minister of Gujarat, when he applied Israeli technology in drip irrigation to Gujarat and revolutionised the farming sector in the State. Now as Prime Minister, he is naturally keen to expand the cooperation. Mr Peres’s desire that the two countries should now extend the relationship to new areas of cooperation is in keeping with New Delhi’s wishes. Of course, the growing relationship will have to take into consideration India’s traditional position on the issue of Palestine, which is that it wants the Palestinians to live in peace and harmony alongside Israel.
But perhaps the most important area of cooperation between Israel and India is security. Both have been targets, and repeatedly, of Islamist terrorism from foreign soil. Both have had to fight the battle largely on their own, without much help from friends. But while Israel has done a commendable job and has adopted belligerent postures, often to the consternation of even its allies such as the US, India has been more circumspect, refraining from ‘boots-on-the-ground’ strategy that Israel has adopted in eliminating its enemies. While there is no immediate need for New Delhi to follow in Israel’s footsteps, it can certainly benefit from that country’s experience in counter-terrorism. India can and should seek further technology from Israel to tackle the menace. It is interesting that Mr Netanyahu has referred to India as a valuable “ally”. What this means in diplomatese, is not important. What is critical is that he sees India as a robust friend with whom his country can do business without the slightest apprehension. If the narrative plays out as it has been doing since Mr Modi’s arrival in New Delhi, we can expect game-changers in the India-Israel bilateral.