When Hamas launched its unprecedented attack towards Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, like most world leaders, condemned Hamas’s horrific actions and expressed “solidarity with Israel at this difficult hour.” But the Modi authorities’s method within the days and weeks that adopted have set it aside from many non-Western friends. That divergence notably contains India abstaining from a U.N. resolution on Oct. 27 that referred to as for a “humanitarian truce” (120 international locations voted in favor).

India’s method has stunned many observers for varied causes. First, the Indian authorities’s relative quiet in regards to the plight of Palestinians in Gaza because the dying toll tops 11,000 marks a departure from its constant assist for Palestinians since 1948. Even within the latest previous, as India and Israel developed protection and business ties, New Delhi’s assist for Israel was tempered by its historic ties. Second, by means of its presidency of the G-20 in 2023, India signaled its ambition to symbolize the voice of the Global South and make sure the creating world’s considerations get heard.

Historically, India has had a really completely different relationship with Israelis and Palestinians. During India’s wrestle for independence from the British, the Indian anti-colonial motion supported Palestinian nationalists and India proposed a plan in 1947 to create an unbiased federal state of Palestine (with constitutional safeguards for the Jewish minority). The causes have been advanced, stemming partly from the unease of India’s post-colonial, nationalist elites in regards to the knowledge of making what they perceived to be a settler state within the erstwhile British Mandate for Palestine. Consequently, when the U.N. General Assembly handed a decision in 1947 that really helpful establishing the State of Israel alongside a Palestinian one, a newly unbiased India was one of many few non-Arab international locations that voted against the measure.

Pragmatic concerns formed India’s place. Indian leaders felt that they might not endorse a state that was based on non secular grounds, particularly coming so quickly after the violent Partition of India in 1947 that led to Pakistan’s creation, an final result that that they had staunchly opposed.

India formally acknowledged Israel in 1950. But Indo-Israeli contacts have been restricted given Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s concern of stirring opposition, notably from Indian Muslims. At the time, India additionally wished to current itself as a standard-bearer towards colonialism and to show its solidarity with newly decolonized Arab states, which have been being courted by Pakistan. In 1974, India turned the primary non-Arab nation to recognize the Palestine Liberation Organization because the “sole and legitimate representative of the Palestinian people.” India once more claimed one other first when it turned the primary non-Arab nation to acknowledge the State of Palestine when the PLO proclaimed it in 1988.

It was not till 1992 that India granted full diplomatic recognition to Israel, together with the opening of the Israeli Embassy in New Delhi. With the Cold War over and the approaching Oslo Accords—which sought rapprochement between Israel and the Palestinians—India selected to finish its coverage of preserving Israel at a calculated distance. Since then, the Indo-Israeli relationship has developed steadily, particularly in relation to protection cooperation. A turning level got here in 1999 when India went to battle with Pakistan over the disputed Kashmir area and Israel demonstrated its willingness to offer arms and ammunition. In latest years, India has bought about $2 billion value of weapons yearly from Israel. India has purchased missiles, drones, bombs, and border-security tools, and is now the Israeli protection business’s greatest overseas buyer.

Modi’s election in 2014 put the Indo-Israeli rapprochement into increased gear. While earlier governments had made positive to maintain their dealings with Israel largely silent, the Modi authorities has been public in its engagement with Israel. Modi was the primary Indian Prime Minister to visit Israel in 2017, which was reciprocated when Netanyahu traveled to Delhi in 2018. The ideological alignment between the 2 right-wing leaders has definitely been extra obvious than with earlier governments. Members of Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party have lengthy regarded Israel as a mannequin religious-nationalist state to probably construct on, in distinction to India’s founding as a secular and multi-religious one.

Still, India has reaffirmed its assist for the Palestinian trigger in recent times. Modi turned the primary Indian Prime Minister in 2018 to visit Ramallah within the occupied West Bank. India has additionally elevated its donations to the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees within the Near East. These varied gestures have been meant to remind each inside and exterior audiences of India’s sophisticated stance on the Israeli-Palestinian battle.

India’s tilt towards Israel encompasses rising commerce and protection cooperation, ideological and management affinities, and a give attention to counter-terrorism cooperation. But India is conscious of potential diplomatic prices and Modi has spoken to varied Arab Gulf leaders to coordinate positions; earlier this month, India voted in favor of a U.N. General Assembly decision that condemned Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Golan Heights.

The problem for India forward is sustaining the strategic protection and business ties with Israel whereas navigating its position as a Global South chief. It is a good rope to stroll.