“Nine years ago, I was lucky enough to be the first Prime Minister of India to visit Israel, and I am very happy to be here again, returning to a land to which I have always felt attracted. After all, I was born on the same day that India formally recognized Israel, September 17, 1950,” declared Narendra Modi this Wednesday, in a speech at the Knessetthe Israeli Parliament, in Jerusalem, in an environment of harmony between the two countries, clearly transformed into allies.
The recognition of the Jewish State actually happened in 1950, but absolute diplomatic normalization had to wait until 1992, when the two embassies were opened. Since then, and especially since Modi became Prime Minister in 2014, Israeli-Indian cooperation has been strengthened, with a focus on agriculture and water management, technology, but also the fight against terrorism and defense. India has even become the largest importer of Israeli weapons, now the second supplier only behind Russia, while for Israel, in addition to business, friendship with the most populous country in the world means a diplomatic gain of great importance in the face of attempts at isolation in the Global South.
No KnessetModi unreservedly emphasized this alliance, and assured that India is “firmly” on the side of Israel after the Hamas terrorist attack on October 7, 2023, which left more than a thousand dead and more than 200 hostages. Benjamin Netanyahu, for his part, praised, applauded and greeted his Indian “friend”.
There are those who remember that for decades, except for rare moments, India aligned itself with the Soviet and third-world camp, which was very critical of Israel. And in 1947 he even voted against the United Nations plan to divide Palestine under a British mandate. It was a vote very motivated by internal issues, as the newly independent India had itself suffered a partition, in the final moment of British colonization, with the creation of a separate state for Muslims, Pakistan. Even with an overwhelming Hindu majority to this day, India has remained diverse, with 20% Muslims, in addition to substantial Christian minorities, sikh or Buddhist. It actually has around five thousand Jews, and in its recent history a member of the Jewish community, General JFR Jacob, was the decisive commander in the war against Pakistan that led to the creation of Bangladesh in 1971.
Indian leaders are proud of the country’s tradition of religious tolerance, and say that Jews there have never felt the persecution that occurred in Europe and the Middle East. But Jawaharlal Nehru, the first post-independence head of government, initiated a foreign policy that sought to maintain good relations with the Arab world, and it is therefore not surprising that during the Congress Party’s decades of power this was the dominant orientation. In 1988, the country was one of the first to recognize a Palestinian State, Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, son of Indira Gandhi, who was also head of government, and grandson of Nehru.
The end of the Cold War, even though it did not separate India from its Soviet/Russian ally, brought about normalization with Israel, and cooperation that increased with successive governments. But Modi, and the Hindu Nationalist Party government, make a difference, trying not to antagonize the Arab-Muslim world, but looking to Israel for the technological partnership that will allow it to deal with hostility from Pakistan and, to a certain extent, China.
The good personal relationship between the two leaders, both right-wing, also plays into the partnership’s favor. Internal criticism of Modi’s visit has come from the Indian left, with Pryianka Gandhi, sister of Rahul Gandhi, the opposition leader, accusing the prime minister of relegating the Israeli retaliation in Gaza after October 7, which caused tens of thousands of deaths, to a secondary level. But even in the governments of the long era of rule of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty, there was discreet Israeli military support for India in the wars with Pakistan, which already indicated common interests.
We will see how this alliance evolves between two countries that have largely hostile neighborhoods in common and that, despite the difference in size, share the status of nuclear power. The challenge will be to consolidate itself even in a post-Modi and post-Netanyahu scenario.
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