Narendra Modi's Israel tour: New Delhi has shed its hesitation in acknowledging deepening ties with Jerusalem

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s much-anticipated visit to Israel from 4 July marks 25 years of formal diplomatic ties between India and the West Asian nation. The visit will be high on symbolism, seeking to take the ties beyond the traditional emphasis on defence and security to a broad multi-dimensional relationship. In recognition of the importance of the relationship, the Israeli government is preparing to receive Modi with the kind of ceremonial welcome reserved for visiting United States’ presidents. According to the Jerusalem Post, Modi will stay in the same luxury suite that had been prepared for US president Donald Trump at the King David Hotel for his recent trip to Israel. The three-day state visit is the first by an Indian prime minister to Israel. [caption id=“attachment_3758329” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Israel prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu with Indian prime minister Narendra Modi. PTI[/caption] India’s defence ties with Israel have been in the spotlight ever since it became a major supplier of defence equipment to India; it has been the third largest defence supplier in the last three years. But the efforts during Modi’s visit would be aimed to go beyond the defence ties, to focus on the broad-based relationship that has been built up in the past few years. The two sides will seek to “institutionalise the relationship”, as Israeli Ambassador Daniel Carmon had said. The two sides are expected to set up a high-level mechanism for water management, agriculture and innovation and sign agreements on cyber security, science and technology and space. While Israel’s prowess is well known in India in the agriculture and water management sector, what Indians are not familiar with is Israel’s reputation as one of the leading start-up countries in the world. Israel has a proven track record in the quality of its IT startups. India and Israel have significant cooperation in the field of agriculture. Under the India-Israel action plan, Israel has set up 15 centres of excellence in agriculture and horticulture in Bihar, Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu. The centres demonstrate Israeli best practices that can be used to improve Indian farming practices. While the central government has taken measured steps in building the bilateral relationship, state governments have been active in reaching out to Israel for help and assistance in agriculture and water management. Modi had visited Israel in 2006 when he was chief minister of Gujarat. The BJP has traditionally been closer to Israel, having long admired Israel for its use of hard power. It was expected that Modi would make Israel one of his early destinations – he had publicly indicated that he would be going to Israel after he met Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington in September 2014. But the visit is taking place now, after three years in office. The two leaders have already met twice abroad on the sidelines of United Nations-related events and are said to have an easy access to each other over the phone. Netanyahu had recently thanked Modi, calling him “my friend”, as he tweeted:

Thank you, my friend, for your kind holiday greeting. The people of Israel eagerly await your historic visit. https://t.co/Is1NmfWiMF

— Benjamin Netanyahu - בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) April 11, 2017

Israel values its ties with India, especially at a time when Israel has been losing the traditional support of the European countries over its hardline stance of building new Jewish settlements in Palestine territories. India’s ties with Israel have been historically linked with Palestine. A strong supporter of the Palestinian cause, India recognised Israel in 1950 but established diplomatic relations only in 1992. Over the years, India has attempted to balance its ties with Israel and Palestine. India’s relations with Israel have moved in carefully graded steps, but in the past few years, India has slowly shed its hesitation in acknowledging the deepening ties with Israel. Modi has ended the usual practice of Indian leaders of clubbing a visit to Palestine with every visit to Israel. He will visit Israel and then travel to Hamburg for the G20 meeting. However, Palestine president Mahmoud Abbas paid a state visit to India last month. Modi will attend a large event of the Indian diaspora which forms another link between India and Israel. He is expected to address a gathering of the Indian origin community at the Convention Centre in Tel Aviv. Over 4,000 persons have registered for the event. Israel has a population of about 85,000 persons of Indian origin. Most of them are Indian Jews who migrated to Israel in the 1950s onwards. The organisers have expressed hope that Netanyahu, who is expected to attend most of Modi’s functions in Israel, would also attend the meeting of Indian Jews.