India-Israel Strategic Cooperation: Latent but Potent
Soon after its formation in 1948, the newly created state of Israel initiated a multidimensional foreign policy in expanding its diplomatic relations with all countries around the world, regardless of their geographical size and political clout at the international level. In South Asia, the nascent Israeli government opened its diplomatic relations with Cambodia, Nepal and later with India. It did not take long for India to become Israel’s major trading and security partner, despite the fact that the two countries did not have formal diplomatic ties. Instead, the successive Indian governments preferred to have strong and cordial relations with the Arab countries. Given that India was a major regional ally of the former Soviet Union and not that of the United States largely explains part of the reason for not having a formal diplomatic relation with Israel.
However, it was in 1992 when the Indo-Israeli relations took a different twist. The diplomatic pendulum swung towards Israel and the two countries formally officiated their diplomatic relations. It was also a time when the former Soviet Union had collapsed and the United States had introduced the ‘new global order’ marking the end of a bipolar world. India not only warmed its relations with Israel but also the US. The signing of the Camp David Peace Accords between Egypt and Israel in 1979 was also a major game changer in the Indo-Israeli relations. The peace deal resulted in the Arab-Israeli conflict to subside and subsequently the Middle East peace process initiated. Today, India considers Israel as one its strategic regional allies and a reliable arms provider. The two nations have also been active in expanding their cultural diplomacy, which has resulted in large number of annual Israeli visitors to India. This underpins the ancient Jewish ties to India where the earliest origins of Jews in India are believed to date back thousands of years with trading ties recorded during the period of King Solomon.
There are multiple explanations to the widening and deepening of Indo-Israeli ties and strategic collaborations. The Indo-Pakistani and Sino-Indian territorial as well as border hostilities created a justifying ground for India to turn to countries including Israel that could provide technologically advanced weaponry. In the wake of the Sino-Indian War over Tibet in 1962, an Indian military delegation visited Israel with an aim to purchase sophisticated arms. After the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 over Jammu and Kashmir, the Indian government did not hesitate to buy more arms from Israel in order to stave off its adversaries. All these arms deals with Israel were not made public in a bid not to antagonise the Arab nations that generally did not recognise the state of Israel as well as maintaining India’s nonalignment policy nationally and internationally.
In addition to that, India was also impressed by the intelligence gathering skills of Israeli secret service personnel, so much so that then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi sent her security personnel to Israel for training and mastery of new skills. Besides its direct working relations with Israel, India established relations with the influential American Jewish lobby groups in Washington in an attempt to seek their support in blocking the sale of advanced US weaponry to Pakistan, one of its arch enemies in the region. As India’s security challenges started mounting, so did its demand for sophisticated arms, and Israel was there to provide it. As a result, the expansion in the Indo-Israeli relations became gradually less secretive. For example, when General Moshe Dayan visited India in 1979, the Indian government did not cover it up and made it known that such a visit had taken place.
Furthermore, the Indo-Israeli relations gained further momentum in 1999, when Israel played a major role in supplying sophisticated weaponry to India during the Kargil War against Pakistan. India’s all-weather ally Russia mostly stood aside and did not provide the type of steadfast military and intelligence assistance that Israel did. The strategic ties between the two nations was further bolstered by the visit of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in 2003 to India. It is worth highlighting that despite steady blossoming of relations between the two countries, successive Indian governments time and again reaffirmed that their unwavering ties with the Arab nations remained intact. The Indian pragmatism has always dictated that the country benefits more from cooperation than rivalry. For India, Arab nations are reliable sources of affordable energy while Israel a major provider of sophisticated arms. It, therefore, ensured over the years that diplomatic relations with one does not come at the expense of the other.
Moreover, bilateral trade and commerce between India and Israel has also witnessed a huge spike as the two nations continued to broaden their multipronged cooperation. From a base of US$ 200 million in 1992, which was mostly in diamond trade, by 2011 the merchandise trade between the two nations topped US $ 5.19 billion. Although there was fluctuation in 2012 owing to global economic recession, it did not take long before it peaked again. India’s exports to Israel surged to US$ 1.93 billion while Israel’s exports to India reached US$ 2.50 billion. Israeli businesses have invested in various sectors such renewable energy, telecommunication, real estate, water technologies and production units in India. Although Israel is ranked the 43rd investor in India, with the gradual expansion of collaborations, there is hope that Israeli investments in India also expand because there is a growing interest from Israeli companies to invest in various sectors.
Agriculture is the other sector, which has witnessed major Israeli investment. The two governments have signed a bilateral agreement for cooperation in agriculture in India. Under the bilateral action plan for 2012-2015, bilateral cooperation in this sector was expanded to seven Indian states. During this period fourteen India-Israel Centres of Excellence for ‘cooperation in agriculture’ were established. Indian states party to the agreement benefited immensely from Israeli technologies in horticulture mechanisation, protected cultivation, orchard and canopy management, nursery management, micro- irrigation and post-harvest management. Israeli ‘drip irrigation technologies and products are widely used in India’. Israeli companies have also been actively involved in providing advice on how to manage and improve dairy farming and increase milk production in hot Indian climate as well as genetic engineering.
The education sector has also had a fair share of the Indo-Israeli cooperation. Israeli universities offer courses related to India. Many public and private Indian universities have signed MoUs with Israeli universities for faculty exchange as well as student exchange programmes. In 2013, the two governments launched a joint academic research programme with focus mostly on science and technology. Under the bilateral agreement, each government contributes US$5 million annually for five years. In addition to that, Israeli government is providing educational opportunities for Indian students to pursue higher education in Israel. It is aimed to create a broader socio-cultural understanding and affinity between the peoples of the two nations as well as further expansion of government-to-government cooperation in the future.
India and Israel’s cultural diversity and their uniqueness creates prospect for both the countries to broaden their strategic relationship. In recent years there has been a spike in Israeli tourists to India. Since late 1990s, Israeli youth in particular have started travelling to India after completing their military service. Every year approximately fifty thousand Israeli travellers visit India. They start their visit with the mountainous villages of the north and later change trend southwards to explore the southern and western states of India. Over the past years, India has indeed become a niche for Israelis. In other words, India has become a second home for them. In a quid pro quo gesture, a large number of Indian tourists have also visited Israel despite not having enough knowledge of Israel and its people.
Over the past two decades, the Indo-Israeli strategic cooperation has blossomed disproportionately. Given the persistent threat coming from Pakistan, the Sino-Indian rivalry and a growing Indian demand for technologically advanced weaponry to address the needs of modern day warfare, Israel will indeed remain a strategic and trusted ally of India regardless of any domestic or international hostilities. Cultural diplomacy, on the other hand, will also play a critical role in further strengthening the Indo-Israeli relations far beyond the current level.
(Pic Courtsey-jagranjosh.com)
(Saber Salem is a PhD scholar with the Jindal School of International Affairs, OP Jindal Global University. His areas of interests are Pacific region, climate change, climate migration and foreign aid diplomacy.)
(Ms. Suchibrata Roy is a Doctoral Research Fellow with the Jindal School of International Affairs, OP Jindal Global University, India. She is a multilingual and loves to explore new cultures and languages. Her research interests are Israel Studies, Antisemitism, Anti-Zionism, Ethno-religious conflicts in the Middle East, Israeli backpackers in India, Jewish Identity Studies, Anthropology of Jewishness and Ethnography. Ms. Roy is a socio-political analyst, an enthusiastic traveller and a passionate cook. She believes that through the platform of academia she can bring change in society and can make a strong contribution to create a better sustainable society.)
(The views expressed are personal)