Israel and India continue on the path of friendship

Ever since the Republic of India established diplomatic relations with the State of Israel in 1992, the collaboration between the two countries has blossomed. India is regarded[1][2] as one of the strongest allies of Israel in Asia. Both countries work closely against Islamic militancy and terrorist activities in the Middle East and Southern Asia.

A top foreign policy priority of the BJP-led Indian government was to establish close and strategic ties with Israel. This was due to the fact that both nations suffered from Islamic terrorism and shared several common interests. As a consequence, the trade volume between the two countries increased significantly from 1996 to 2004. The level of collaboration between the two countries continued to increase after the Indian National Congress came to power in 2004. Israel is now India's second largest arms provider after Russia.
1940s to 1980s

India gained independence from the British Empire a year before the State of Israel was created. India's first Prime Minister, Jawahar Lal Nehru, and Indian mass leader, Mahatama Gandhi, welcomed the creation of Israel. However, the pro-Israeli sentiment was reflected mostly by the Hindu population of India. Muslims in India were overwhelmingly pro-Arab and the Congress-led Indian government didn't want to displease the Muslim populace, which contributed approximately 13% of India's total population, by publicy taking a pro-Israel stance[3]. Another factor which affected India-Israel diplomatic relationship was the Kashmir dispute. During the First Kashmir War, India's arch-rival, Pakistan, referred the Kashmir issue to the United Nations Security Council. There was a high probability that the Arab nations would favor Pakistan's claim over Kashmir had India established diplomatic relations with Israel. In private though, Indian political leaders expressed their support for Israel. In a statement in 1954, Nehru said he would not "be a party to a resolution which stated that the creation of Israel was a violation of international law". He also wrote a letter to Frances Gunther expressing his support for the general Jewish behavior in Palestine[3]. Various Hindu organizations, led by the Sangh Parivar, openly supported the Jewish-cause and the creation of Israel. In particular, Vinayak Damodar Savarkar openly stated his support for Zionism and a Jewish State in the Middle-East, citing that Israel has been the national home of the Jewish people long before the advent of Islam[4].The stubborn opposition to establish diplomatic relations with Israel during the 1960s and 1970s arose due to the left-wing Congress Party's greed for Muslim votes.[5]


[edit] Indo-Pakistani War of 1971

Despite of India's unwillingness to establish diplomatic relations with it, Israel offered help to India during the 1971 war in the form of intelligence gathering and military equipment. India, realizing that its boycott of Israel was tactically wrong, accepted the help offer. For India and Israel, the common potential enemy was Pakistan, a Muslim nation committed to helping the Arab countries of the Middle East.[6][7] The Indian military extensively used Israeli 166mm mortar and ammunition during the war.[8] In fact, Pakistan had sent its pilots to fight with the Arab nations against Israel during the Six day war of 1967, and Israel wanted to do the same against Pakistan by helping India.
In 1986, the members of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) issued a joint declaration supporting Pakistan's claim over Kashmir. The OIC statement came even though India had officially supported the Arab cause for more than 3 decades.[9] Relations between India and OIC severed in 2001 when the latter criticised India for not doing enough to stop the alleged human rights violations against Muslims in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. India dismissed this allegation as baseless and Pakistani propaganda[10]. India retaliated to the anti-India stance taken by the OIC by re-evaluating its Middle East policy[11]. Muslims in India too felt betrayed by the stance taken by the OIC countries and support for Arabs among all sections of the Indian populace began declining. The Indian government took this opportunity to establish diplomatic relations with Israel in 1992.