Netanyahu's India Agenda

NEW DELHI: India laid out a red carpet for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who began his return visit to India on Sunday, January 14, six months after his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi made a landmark visit to the Jewish state, first by any Indian leader nearly 70 years after it came into being. 

Netanyahu's India visit coincides with 25 years of establishment of bilateral ties between the two states which have only grown after right wing BJP of Mr Modi came to power.

Netanyahu is accompanied by around 130 Israeli businesspeople representing some 100 companies in the cybersecurity, military, water, energy, agriculture, health and food industries.

Nine commercial agreements will be signed during the visit: A memorandum of understanding on gas and oil, a memorandum of understanding on renewable energy, an upgrade of the existing aviation agreement, an agreement on joint ventures in industrial research and development, a memorandum of understanding on cybersecurity, a deal to promote reciprocal investments, an agreement between Jerusalem's Shaare Zedek Medical Center and the Indian Health Ministry on supplementary medicine, an agreement between the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology and the Indian Science Ministry on space research, and an agreement on joint movie productions.

BILATERAL TRADE

In 2016, the bilateral trade, excluding defence, between the two countries was around $4billion. At present, Israel is a major defence supplier to India exporting an average of $1 billion of military equipment each year. 

In April 2016, Israel's Aerospace Industries (IAI) received its largest ever defense contract of $1.6 billion from the Indian Army for the land-based version of the Barak 8 air defence system. A month later, IAI signed another defence contract of $630 million with Bharat Electronics (BEL) for its naval version for four vessels.

Netanyahu will hold several meetings with Modi as well as with other cabinet ministers and Indian President Ram Nath Kovind. He will also dedicate a square in New Delhi named after the city of Haifa. He will visit a memorial to Mahatma Gandhi in the capital Delhi, the Taj Mahal in Agra and the Sabarmati Ashram in Gujarat, where Gandhi lived for 12 years.

He will also attend a memorial ceremony for the victims of the 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai, whose targets included the Taj Mahal Hotel and the local Chabad house. Netanyahu will be accompanied at this ceremony by 11-year-old Moshe Holtzberg, who lost his parents in the Chabad house attack. After the ceremony, Netanyahu will met with leaders of the Indian Jewish community.

Also on his agenda will be a meeting with representatives of Bollywood, the Indian film industry. He will return to Israel on Friday afternoon.

FROM PAST TO PRESENT

In 1950, India recognised Israel, but did not establish diplomatic relations. In 1962, Israel helped India when the later asked for arms and ammunition supply. 1962 made the beginning of defence ties between the two countries.

Again in 1971, Israel helped India during the India-Pakistan war. In 1985, Rajiv Gandhi met his Israeli counterpart Shimon Peres on the sidelines of the UNGA, the first public meeting between the leaders of the two countries.

In 1992, diplomatic ties between India and Israel were established. In 1999, during the Kargil war, Israel again helped India with defence supplies. In 2003, Ariel Sharon became the first Israeli PM to visit India. In 2009, Barak 8 deal was signed between India and Israel. In 2014, Modi met Netanyahu on the sidelines of the UNGA, first such meeting in over a decade.

In 2015, India abstained from voting against Israel at the UN Human Rights Commission, signaling a shift in its Israel-Palestine policy. In 2017, India took part in Blue flag exercise. In 2017, India voted in favour of an Arab-sponsored resolution against the US government's move to shift its embassy to Jerusalem.

In 2018, Israeli arms manufacturing firm Rafael confirmed scrapping of $500 million Spike, anti-tank guided missile, deal between India and Israel.

MODI-BIBI BONDING

Analysts say the bonding between the two PMs, Modi and Netanyahu, is acting as a catalyst in forging stronger ties between the two sides.Netanyahu's wife Sara is also accompanying him on the trip.

Netanyahu, the second longest serving Prime Minister in Israel's history after David Ben-Gurion, is a right-wing hardliner, who has made his political career by portraying Palestinians as an existential threat to the Jewish state of Israel.

"He has thrived on playing the politics of fear, vilifying Arabs and demonising Muslims. Thanks to his brand of politics a million of Arab Israelis in the whole country have been forced to the edge", wrote an Indian political analyst Ashok Swain in the news portal News O.   

"Hindu nationalists in India revere Israel for the successful domination of its Muslim neighbourhood," Swain wrote.

As an opinion piece in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz points out, Modi can afford to ignore the Palestinians. Modi's Hindutva politics not only encourages him to ignore Palestine, but also to build an open alliance with Zionist forces.

Netanyahu and Modi bromance and their partnership is bound to cause further anxiety among a large section of Indian populace particularly its 300 million Muslim minority, analysts say. 

Former diplomat M.K. Bhadrakumar has noted the logic of India's expanding defence and security ties with Israel, but has cautioned that the "aura of romance" surrounding the relationship is unwarranted. He points out that beyond the Palestinian issue, there are several important differences between Indian and Israeli perceptions on matters of national security.

India does not share Israel's visceral animosity for Iran and does not countenance Israel's aggressive anti-Iran postures in Syria to the extent of even using al-Qaeda and ISIS elements against the Syrian government led by Bashar al Assad. Again, Israel has welcomed the Belt and Road Initiative sponsored by China and does not share India's deep concerns relating to the expansion of China's influence in India's neighbourhood and the Indian Ocean region.

Talmiz Ahmad, another former Indian diplomat believes that these developments affirm that there are serious limitations to India-Israel relations: they will remain transactional in character and never attain the level of a strategic partnership, despite the robust rhetoric of rightwing zealots in India and Israel