Since 1950, India’s policy towards Israel and Palestine was to be as inoffensive as possible to either side. But in early days, India voted against Israel in the United Nations and supported a separate Palestinian state.
India’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, said:
We would have [recognised Israel] long ago, because Israel is a fact. We refrained because of our desire not to offend the sentiments of our friends in the Arab countries.
Israel, on the other hand, always saw India as a potential friend. But Nehru did not pay a visit, despite promising to do so during his 1956 tour of the Middle East. Nehru had visited Egypt, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon but not Israel.
Years later, David Ben-Gurion, Israel’s first prime minister, remembered how Nehru broke his promise. Relations between the countries stayed informal, and the nations built strong military ties over a common antagonism with Pakistan. Formal relations were only established in 1992.
July of 2017 will mark the long-awaited fulfilment of a promise Nehru made to Ben-Gurion many years ago. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be the first head of state from India to visit Israel in history.
It’s a paradigm shift in India-Israel relations. But, it’s worth noting that the two shared extensive military and scientific ties even before this visit. How can Modi build upon a great foundation?
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