Changing focus

India-Israel ties have blossomed in the past 19 months, acquiring a high profile with a significant exchange of high-level visits. Among the first leaders Prime Minister Narendra Modi chose to meet when he went to New York in September 2014 was Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. It was a significant meeting that signalled a qualitative change in bilateral ties under the NDA government as it was a shift from the balance maintained in ties with Israel and Palestine.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj’s recent visit to Palestine is an attempt to restore equilibrium in the NDA government’s policy. Swaraj’s first visit to the West Asian region included Palestine and Israel and took place just three months after a state visit by President Pranab Mukherjee to the two countries. Unlike her usual foreign tours, the External Affairs Minister’s visit to Ramallah was well-publicised. Inaugurating a Digital Learning and Innovation Centre at the al-Quds University, Swaraj reiterated India’s friendship with the Palestine people remained an integral part of its foreign policy.

Previous governments have followed a more nuanced stance to ensure that ties with Palestine remain at the same level while making efforts to build relations with Israel. The Modi government’s new-found warmth looked to displace Palestine from the favoured position it had traditionally held in India’s foreign policy for West Asia.

As the conviviality between Modi and Netanyahu grew, New Delhi’s attention towards Palestine seemed to wane as there were no matching efforts at engaging with the Palestinian leadership. There was no effort to arrange a meeting or a telephone conversation between Modi and Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas who was also in New York at the same time. The bonhomie was evident after Netanyahu’s victory in last year’s elections, when Modi tweeted in Hebrew saying; “congratulations my friend.” Netanyahu disclosed that he has spoken to Modi on the phone on several occasion.

The warming of ties has come at a time when Israel has been losing support in Europe and even in the US over its military offensives against the Palestinians. The Indian decision to abstain in the UN Human Rights Council vote on adopting its report on Israel’s offensive against Gaza came as a rude surprise for Palestinian supporters.

It was the first time India had abstained on a vote relating to Palestine and was perceived as a shift in India’s stance. Israeli commentators claimed India’s abstention a diplomatic victory. India’s abstention stood out as only four other countries had abstained while Israel’s traditional allies like Germany, Britain, France, Holland and Japan voted against it.

India-Israel relations have widened in recent years; Israel is among India’s main defence suppliers, there is wide ranging cooperation in other sectors like agriculture and water management. Two high level visits are on the cards; Modi scheduled to go to Israel and a likely return visit by Israeli President Rueven Rivlin. The higher profile given to the current ministerial visit to Palestine is meant to be a reminder of India’s traditional support to Palestine. As Swaraj said, “the entire Indian leadership remains steadfastly committed” to the Palestinian cause.

The writer is a senior journalist