India S Israel Policy

India's foreign policy toward Israel is a subject of deep dispute. Throughout the twentieth century arguments have raged over the Palestinian problem and the future of bilateral relations. Yet no text comprehensively looks at the attitudes and policies of India toward Israel, especially their development in conjunction with history. P. R. Kumaraswamy is the first to account for India's Israel policy, revealing surprising inconsistencies in positions taken by the country's leaders, such as Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru, and tracing the crackling tensions between its professed values and realpolitik. Kumaraswamy's findings debunk the belief that India possesses a homogenous policy toward the Middle East. In fact, since the early days of independence, many within India have supported and pursued relations with Israel. Using material derived from archives in both India and Israel, Kumaraswamy investigates the factors that have hindered relations between these two countries despite their numerous commonalities. He also considers how India destabilized relations, the actions that were necessary for normalization to occur, and the directions bilateral relations may take in the future. In his most provocative argument, Kumaraswamy underscores the disproportionate affect of anticolonial sentiments and the Muslim minority on shaping Indian policy.

The book is bestowed with the unique feature of being the first comprehensive study ever made on India-Israel relations by an Indian Scholar. Indian had maintained a track record of marginalising the Jewish State ever since its inception. Apart from the political, diplomatic and strategic view points, India s diplomatic behaviour with respect to Israel was always a focus of controversy and criticism. Despite keeping friendly relation and even defence deals at times of crisis, the book argues, India resisted the request of Israel for diplomatic ties. The book, while examining this dynamism in India s foreign policy, takes deviation from the conventional research methods from the conventional research methods and trends and examines empirically the factors and forces that have guided India s relation towards Israel. The book objectively brings home the alchemy of policy shift and the potential possibilities and contradictions involved in the bilateral deal between the two States.

India's relationship with Israel has been one of the most sensitive and controversial issues in New Delhi's diplomatic history. India first decided to recognize Israel in 1950 but deliberately deferred the establishment of diplomatic relations. Then, in January 1992, New Delhi abruptly modified its no-relationship policy and exchanged diplomatic missions with Tel Aviv. In the spate of only two decades, the two countries have developed significant economic and especially defense relations. Why did India only decide to establish diplomatic relations with Israel in 1992? And how have Indo-Israeli relations moved from almost naught to a rapid and substantial development in certain sensitive sectors like defense cooperation in only a few years? Breaking with conventional wisdom, this book looks at how India's Israel policy was actually contested from the start and evolved over time to adapt to new domestic and international circumstances and interests. The rationale for engaging Israel did not suddenly emerge in 1992 but was in fact the result of long-term debates within the Indian polity. This book offers a new historical perspective to understand the formation and evolution of India's Israel policy since the pre-Independence period.

India and Israel contextualises the varied aspects of the partnership between India and Israel, with a specific focus on the dominant driver -- the defence engagement between the two sides, forged in the context of mutual complementarities. India's broad-spectrum relationship with Israel transformed into a strategic partnership in 2017, a quarter century after the establishment of full diplomatic ties. India and Israel have successfully steered the relationship forward, despite the baggage of fraught and convulsive neighbourhoods. The contributors to this volume include policy makers and military leaders who played an important role in the growth of the relationship, as well as academics who have closely followed its growth, shedding important light on the transformation of the India-Israel bilateral relationship into a strategic partnership over the course of past tumultuous 25 years. Chapters highlight Israel's increasing engagement with India's diverse federal polity, the de-hyphenation of the India-Israel ties from India's relationship with Palestine, as well as the role played by US non-state (pro-Israel US-based interest groups) and sub-state (US Congressmen) actors in shaping India-Israel ties. The concluding chapter examines Israel's relationship with the Peoples Republic of China (PRC), given that both the PRC and India established diplomatic ties with Israel almost simultaneously. India and Israel will be of great interest to scholars of strategic studies, international relations, Middle Eastern Studies, Asian Studies, as well as those working in diplomacy, government and the military. The chapters were originally published as a special issue of Strategic Analysis.

India and Israel contextualises the varied aspects of the partnership between India and Israel, with a specific focus on the dominant driver — the defence engagement between the two sides, forged in the context of mutual complementarities. India’s broad-spectrum relationship with Israel transformed into a strategic partnership in 2017, a quarter century after the establishment of full diplomatic ties. India and Israel have successfully steered the relationship forward, despite the baggage of fraught and convulsive neighbourhoods. The contributors to this volume include policy makers and military leaders who played an important role in the growth of the relationship, as well as academics who have closely followed its growth, shedding important light on the transformation of the India-Israel bilateral relationship into a strategic partnership over the course of past tumultuous 25 years. Chapters highlight Israel’s increasing engagement with India’s diverse federal polity, the de-hyphenation of the India-Israel ties from India’s relationship with Palestine, as well as the role played by US non-state (pro-Israel US-based interest groups) and sub-state (US Congressmen) actors in shaping India-Israel ties. The concluding chapter examines Israel’s relationship with the Peoples Republic of China (PRC), given that both the PRC and India established diplomatic ties with Israel almost simultaneously. India and Israel will be of great interest to scholars of strategic studies, international relations, Middle Eastern Studies, Asian Studies, as well as those working in diplomacy, government and the military. The chapters were originally published as a special issue of Strategic Analysis.

India and Israel marked three decades of the establishment of full diplomatic ties in January 2022. In the aftermath of the historic visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Israel in July 2017, India-Israel relations have acquired a new momentum and strategic depth. Defence and security cooperation have been the mainstays of the partnership. The study notes that India is taking a series of measures to enhance domestic procurement and defence indigenization. Going forward, strategic partners like Israel will be expected to continue to work more closely with the domestic defence industry to fulfil the critical requirements of India's armed forces. On regional security issues like the Iranian nuclear contentions, India has adopted positions largely in opposition to the preferred Israeli policy preferences. India has, however, consistently held that it is opposed to the possibility of a nuclear Iran, given the negative repercussions for regional security and stability, as well as due to the Iran-Pakistan proliferation linkages. India's Palestine policy, meanwhile, will continue to be guided by its core principles on the issue, even as the possibility of an independent Palestinian state, living side by side with Israel, looks difficult to materialize in the near to mid-terms. This is even as the schisms within the Palestinian national movement look set to expand in the post-Mahmoud Abbas era. The book brings to attention the dynamic path India-Israel relations have traversed in the past three decades, encompassing areas of defence and security and high-technology cooperation. New vistas of engagement are being pursued by both countries, bilaterally as well as with other countries. The first I2U2 Summit meeting held between the leaders of India, Israel, the UAE and the US in July 2022, emphasized the geo-economic focus of the unique mini-lateral group. An India-Israel enhanced strategic partnership is a win-win proposition, bilaterally and across regions.

The first study of Israeli foreign policy towards the Middle East and selected world powers, since the end of the Cold War to the present.