BJP’s sweeping electoral victory in Indian polls without Muslim support will help boost ties with Is

By P.K. Balachandran 

Indo-Israeli ties are expected to receive a significant boost following the sweeping victory of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the populous North Indian state of Uttar Pradesh without the support of Muslims and without fielding a single Muslim candidate for the 403 seats up for grabs in the Assembly.   

Wedded to aggressive nationalism based on a Hindu consolidation vis-à-vis the Muslims, the BJP government in New Delhi may be expected to get tougher on Pakistan and go ahead with the on-going plan to cultivate closer defence and security oriented ties with Israel without fearing the alienation of Muslims. In a daring bid to win only on the basis of a consolidated Hindu vote, Modi had done what no other major Indian party would ever do, namely, totally ignore 19% of Uttar Pradesh’s population.

Therefore, it is clear that when Modi comes to Tel Aviv in mid-July, he will be serenaded and welcomed with open arms by the Israeli Establishment. 

Modi’s visit will be a stand-alone one. In other words, he will not be visiting any Arab country or Palestine during this trip. The visit will gain considerable media attention also because it will be the high watermark in the celebrations to mark the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Modi’s visit assumes significance because it is the first by an Indian Prime Minister to Israel. While Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon had visited India, no Indian PM has so far visited Israel. 

India had recognised Israel way back in 1950, but had not exchanged Ambassadors till 1992 because of the pro-Arab, pro-Palestine policies of the Centre-Left parties which ruled India in the 1950s, ’60s, ’70s and the ’80s, and the first part of the 1990s. But the non-doctrinaire and pragmatic Congress Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao changed it all with the help of the then opposition stalwart and BJP leader, Atal Behari Vajpayee. In 1992, India under Rao, established full diplomatic relations with Israel. Since then, relations between the two countries have grown from strength to strength.

But in view of the political sensibilities inherited from the Congress-Leftist era, the relationship was low profile. Secrecy was necessitated also because the ties were, and still are, largely defence and security oriented. In fact, while civilian trade between the two countries is just $ 4.5 billion, the secret defence trade is two to three times more than that. Defence deals are set to be worth well above $ 10 billion. And that is set to grow, given India’s position as the word’s single biggest arms importer, and Israel being among the world’s 10 top arms exporters.

In a significant development in 2014, which was a pointer to what was to come, India abstained from voting in the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) on a resolution condemning Israel for the killing of 2000 Palestinians in Gaza. New Delhi justified its abstention saying it could not support the call for the issue to be taken to the International Criminal Court (ICC) which has not recognised.

Gujarat factor 

Modi is no stranger to Israel as he had visited that country as Chief Minister of Gujarat in 2008 and Gujarat has had very close connections with Israel through the diamond trade. From 50 to 71% of India-Sri Lanka bilateral trade is accounted for by diamonds and the trade is between Gujarat and Israel rather than between India and Israel. India imports diamonds from, and exports diamonds to, Israel. India is using Israeli technology to evaluate cut diamonds. In fact, India, Israel and Russia are involved in the world diamond trade in a big way. While India is the largest importer of diamonds, Russia is the largest exporter in the world.

However, Modi did not show any haste in visiting Israel after coming to power as Prime Minister in May 2014. The globetrotting Indian Prime Minister had visited Saudi Arabia, Iran and Qatar, but skirted Israel. However, he had a meeting with his Israeli counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session in New York in 2014 when Netanyahu suggested that Israel could help beef up India’s internal and external security apparatus.

Following this, Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Ya’alon visited in India in 2015, the first by an Israeli Defence Minister since 1992. Seven Israeli service chiefs and seven Israeli National Security Advisors have visited India since 2001 so far, underscoring the importance of defence and security in the relationship. This year, India’s National Security Advisor Ajit Doval visited Israel and met Prime Minister Netanyahu.   

India purchased Phalcon AWACS for US$ 1.1 billion .It also bought UAVs, Aerostat surveillance radars; Galil sniper rifles; Barak anti-missile defence systems mounted on frontline ships; and under water surveillance systems. India and Israel are jointly developing a long-range surface to air missile for the Indian Navy; medium range missiles for the Indian air force; and are jointly marketing the Dhruv advanced light helicopter. 

According to defence commentator, Ajai Shukla, India’s purchases are sustaining Israeli defence industries. He cites the development of the ELTA defence electronic system by Israel as a case in point. And Israel’s dependence on the Indian military market has increased with the human rights conscious European Union putting curbs on some Israeli exports in the context of its killing of Palestinians in Gaza.

For Israel, India is but a minor investment destination, the total investment in India being just US$ 55.3 million. But Israelis are advising on border security and electronic surveillance, cyber security, desalinisation, waste water management, agriculture, irrigation, food processing and food preservation. India loses 21 million tons of food every year because of a lack of preservation facilities. The IDE, an Israeli desalinisation company has a plant in Tamil Nadu and Gujarat. Mekorot has a plan in Mumbai. Rajasthan has an Israeli waste water re-cycling plant.

Indians and Indian companies have also been investing in Israel. Jain Industries have invested in drip irrigation. Sun Pharma has taken over Taro Pharmaceuticals. Triveni Engineering has acquired the waste water company Aqwise. Indian IT giants like Infosys, Wipro, and Tech Mahindra have all set up units in Israel.