In spite of working closely on defence, counter-terrorism, agriculture and energy related issues India-Israel ties for the last 23 years have not taken off on the confidence level and it needs to be nurtured on a much wider spectrum leaving aside the dead issues of the past. India being one of the biggest victims of cross-border terrorism in the world has to have a policy which goes well with the West Bank situation and should see these attacks not with emotions but with a logic that humanitarian cause should not suffer at the hands of religion. There has been a steady strengthening of India’s relationship with Israel ever since the two established full diplomatic relations in 1992. In contrast to the back-channel security ties that existed before the normalisation of bilateral relations, India has been more willing in recent years to carve out a mutually beneficial bilateral relations, including deepening military ties and countering the threat terrorism poses to the two societies. Of late India has also begun denouncing Palestinian suicide bombings and other terrorist acts in Israel, something that was seen earlier as rather justified in light of the Israeli policies against the Palestinians. India is no longer initiating anti-Israel resolutions at the UN and has made serious attempts to moderate the Non-Aligned Movement’s anti-Israel resolutions. This re-evaluation has been based on a realisation that India’s largely pro-Arab stance in the Middle East has not been adequately rewarded by the Arab world. The terrorism that both India and Israel face comes not only from disaffected groups within their territories; it is also aided and abetted by neighbouring states, increasingly capable of transferring weapons of mass destruction to terrorist organisations. India has received no worthwhile backing from the Arab countries in the resolution of problems it faces in its neighbourhood, especially Kashmir. And yet, previous governments had been reticent in acknowledging Israel’s partnership.
