21 - 27 February 2002
Issue No.574
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 21 - 27 February 2002 Issue No.574 |
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Non-aligned in the Middle East
What is the precise nature of Indo-Israeli relations, wonders Michael Jansen from New Delhi
India is engaged in a delicate balancing act in its relations with the countries of the Middle East, called "West Asia" here. In January Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres paid a high profile visit to India and the United States, during which Washington approved India's purchase of the Israeli airborne Phalcon radar system.
New Delhi promptly dispatched a high level delegation to the region to reassure the Arabs that India remains a constant friend and ally. This mission was led by Najma Heputllah, president of the inter-parliamentary council and deputy speaker of India's upper house, a staunch advocate of Indian-Arab cooperation.
Since establishing full diplomatic relations with Israel a decade ago, India has combined the expansion of its ties with Israel with attempts to reassure the Arabs that this process is not moving forward at their expense. Although uneasy over India's growing cooperation with Israel in the military sphere, the Arabs remained satisfied that India was firmly committed to its long-standing policy of supporting the Arabs on Palestine and other issues.
However, after 11 September India placed itself squarely in the US anti-terrorism camp and hardened its policy line on the Pakistan-backed insurgency in Indian-administered Kashmir. Pronouncements by senior Indian politicians on this issue sound very much like statements issued by their Israeli counterparts on the Palestinian uprising. Some Indian political figures have adopted a bellicose, anti-Muslim tone similar to that of the Israelis.
Consequently, it has become increasingly difficult for Indian politicians and spokesmen to convince the Arabs that Delhi continues to back the Palestinian cause. India's policy of supporting the Palestinians goes back to the 1920s and 1930s when Mahatma Gandhi stood against the Zionist colonisation and expropriation of Palestine.
After independence, India followed Gandhi's principled policy out of self-interest. India had the largest Muslim population of any non-Muslim state, enjoyed lucrative economic ties with the Arabs, which are further strengthened by the presence of millions of expatriate Indian workers in the Gulf and Saudi Arabia, and shared with the Arabs a policy of non-alignment during the Cold War. Secular India also sought Arab support to prevent its confrontation with Pakistan from becoming a Hindu-Muslim matter.
But as the Cold War wound down, India abandoned non-alignment and gravitated towards the Western powers and Israel. This process accelerated after the right-wing Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) took power in 1998. Both pro-Western and anti-Muslim in its orientation, the BJP "naturally" looks to Israel for military support in India's conflict with Muslim Pakistan and seeks the advocacy of Israel's friends in Washington to strengthen Indo-US relations.
A columnist for a leading Indian daily remarked that Indian Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh "is in Washington's pocket." However, the BJP is constrained by the political elite's lingering attachment to Gandhian principles, fear that an overt pro-Israel tilt would precipitate a backlash amongst Indian Muslims and concern that Arab states could replace Indian expatriate workers with those from other countries.
Although India recognised Israel in 1950 and permitted it to open a consular mission in Bombay in 1953, normalisation stalled after Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Egyptian President Gamal Abdel-Nasser established close personal and political relations in 1956. In spite of these ties, India made small arms purchases from Israel during the Indo-Chinese conflict of 1962 and the Indo-Pak wars of 1965 and 1971. Cooperation also developed between India's intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), and Israel's Mossad and among senior armed forces officers of the two countries. One of the factors promoting this connection on the Indian side was anti-Pakistan, anti-Muslim resentment, particularly amongst officers whose homes were in areas which fell in Pakistan after partition. However, the subordination of the military to the civilian authority prevented the pro-Israel sentiments of those officers from surfacing in Indian policy until full diplomatic relations were established in 1992.
Thereafter, rapid progress was made on the Indo-Israeli military front. Israel's arms industries launched an aggressive campaign in India, concluding deals for sales, joint projects and technology transfer worth billions of dollars. In addition to the $1 billion Phalcon deal, Israel Aircraft Industries last year concluded contracts for naval surface-to-air missiles ($280 million), unmanned aerial vehicles or drones ($300 million) and the Green Pine radar system ($250 million). Projects under discussion include upgrading India's aircraft avionics and T-72 Russian-manufactured battle tanks and developing a truck-borne howitzer. India could also bid for Israel's Arrow anti-ballistic missile defence system. An authoritative Indian source told Al-Ahram Weekly, "None of these deals bolsters Israel's military power against the Arabs. Israel gets money, India weapons and technology. All agreements we sign provide for the creation of domestic production." Israel is now India's number two arms supplier, after Russia.
Indo-Israeli non-military trade, valued at $1 billion, includes high-tech agricultural equipment -- for which production facilities are being set up in India -- and diamonds, textiles and foodstuffs.
Ties are also fostered by the 60,000 Indian Jews residing in Israel who maintain a close connection with their former homeland and by the 20,000 Israeli tourists who visit India every year.
India has tried to balance its growing connections with Israel by bolstering its long-standing ties to the Palestinian leadership.
In 1996 India established a representative office to the Palestine National Authority. Palestinian President Yasser Arafat has paid three visits to India and there have been a number of exchanges by senior officials. India has been critical of Israel's brutal response to the Palestinian Intifada and New Delhi has risked Israeli and US displeasure by submitting to the United Nations General Assembly a draft anti-terror convention, which would distinguish between peoples who fight against foreign occupation and domestic separatists.
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