DNA Edit: Standing up to a bully

In view of India’s growing bonhomie with Israel, New Delhi’s decision to vote against US President Donald Trump’s decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital has surprised seasoned political observers.

Despite his many shortcomings, Trump considers India as a valuable ally. This makes the Narendra Modi government’s principled stand on the issue all the more remarkable. Perhaps, it will be too simplistic to paint this development in black and white. One also needs to factor in the long history of India’s support for Palestine. A friendship that harks back to an era when the plight of a people was yet to become a cause célèbre for the global community.

It was rooted in anti-colonialism but at the same time, the religious angle was too powerful to be ignored. From the days of Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s unflinching solidarity with the Palestinian cause also had to do with keeping Muslims within the country, happy. This secularism-inspired diplomacy may have had its pitfalls, but international relations are also influenced by the spirit of the times. PM Modi, for the first time, has tried to change this well-entrenched narrative in his own way, though India had established full diplomatic ties with Israel in 1992. It won’t be inaccurate to say that the Modi government’s decision is also guided, in part, by domestic concerns.

Trump’s unilateral decision amounted to third-party intervention in the Israel-Palestine conflict. If any foreign power decides to wade into the Kashmir crisis, New Delhi would definitely oppose it. It would be foolhardy to think that India’s posture would be detrimental to its flowering relationships with Israel and the US. The countries, which voted in favour of the proposal included Egypt, Afghanistan and Iraq, which are major recipients of the US aid. But the resounding ‘no’ at the UN assembly was nothing short of a stinging rebuke for Trump’s impulsiveness. Had India capitulated to the US demand, its international stature would have taken a beating.

Diplomacy works at multiple levels, and New Delhi, Washington and Tel Aviv will not allow a difference of opinion to become overwhelming. India and Israel’s relationship covers a wide array of domains. It hinges on defence, intelligence-sharing, counter-terrorism as well as cooperation in water harvesting and agriculture. PM Modi’s visit to the country in July, this year, had signalled the further firming-up of ties.

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu four-day visit to India on January 14, next year, will most likely take this relationship forward. However, in the midst of such expectations, one must remember that Israel’s settlement project in East Jerusalem, aimed at the consolidation of Israel’s control over the city, is illegal. It is in contravention of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits an occupying country from transferring its population into the areas it occupies. And, the large-scale suffering of Palestinians is a humanitarian crisis that can’t be allowed to continue if the world still believes in a modicum of justice.