Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's
six-day visit to India that began on Sunday is the first prime ministerial
visit by a leader of the country since Ariel Sharon's trip in 2003. Indian
Prime Minister Narendra Modi broke protocol to welcome him at the airport.
Modi's visit to Israel in July last year made him the first Indian prime
minister to visit Israel since the official establishment of ties. The exchange
of visits within half year marks a boost in bilateral ties.
India attained freedom from Britain in 1947, a year before the creation of the
state of Israel. Bilateral ties progressed tardily because of India's stance in
the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Due to its diplomatic principles and a large
Muslim population, India took a clear stance against Israel's occupation of
Palestinian territory and supported the creation of a state of Palestine.
Therefore, the two countries did not officially establish diplomatic relations
until the peace process between Israel and Palestine made remarkable progress
in 1992.
India-Israel relations improved rapidly after ties were established. First,
Israel became the main supplier of weapons to India, with military equipment
export averaging $1 billion per year. Second, two-way trade has seen an
increase from $200 million to $4.16 billion during the past 25 years. Besides,
bilateral cooperation has been established in traditional areas like
technological innovations, agriculture and water resource management, etc. In
Israel's efforts to facilitate the signing of a civil nuclear agreement between
the US and India, the US India Political Action Committee received strong
support and assistance from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.
For Israel, strengthening ties with India is not only about foreign trade and
weapons sale. It also helps contain Pakistan. As an Islamic state, Pakistan
firmly supports Arab countries and Palestine, but opposes Israel. Pakistan's
atomic bomb is called "the asset of Islam," which is alleged to have
posed a threat to the national security of Israel.
Moreover, India is a major country of significant influence in the Third World. Therefore, its sympathy and understanding can help reduce international
pressure on Israel.
Yet India would not support Israel in its dispute with the Palestinians. Though
New Delhi is developing pragmatic relations with Tel Aviv, it sticks to its
stance on Israeli-Palestinian relations - in support of peace between the two
countries, as well as Palestinians' attempt to make East Jerusalem the capital
of a state they seek to establish.
Despite India sticking to its principled stand on the Israeli-Palestinian
issue, bilateral relations between Israel and India have been continuously
improving in recent years since Modi took office.
First, Modi considers Israel as the main supplier of weapons and an important
economic partner. He hopes that apart from arms trade, the two countries can
also cooperate in technology transfer and joint development and production of
weapons, which can not only enhance India's capability to produce advanced
weapons, but also help promote economic growth under the "Make in
India" slogan. That's why India canceled an order of $500 million Spike
anti-tank guided missile order from Rafael, an Israeli state-owned weapons and
defense equipment maker.
Second, after frequent terrorist attacks in India, Modi pays great attention to
international anti-terror cooperation, in which Israel is quite experienced.
Improved relations with Israel have aroused suspicion in India that Modi is
getting too close to Israel. Traditionally, India has shown a preference for
Arab countries over Israel, while Modi is now working to strike a balance.
As a Hindu nationalist, Modi is emotionally closer to Israel, yet he must also
take into account the significance of India's relations with Gulf countries as
well as Iran.
While working to strengthen cooperation with Israel, the Modi government also
attaches importance to relations with Arab countries, and will stick to its
stance in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Perhaps India can play a major role
in the Middle East peace process.
Long Xingchun is a senior research fellow at the Charhar Institute and
director of the Center for Indian Studies at China West Normal University.
Source: Global Times, 2018-1-18