18

Jun

Gulf War: Talk of  Modi Govt’s “ Balancing Act “ a Façade

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A close-up of a person with glasses AI-generated content may be incorrect.Israel’s missile attack on Iran on 13 June has not only brought dark clouds of a global conflagration closer home but has also brought many hidden realities and facts into the open. It includes India supporting US-backed Israel to the hilt and maintaining a façade of doing a “balancing act”.      

The Modi government’s claim of the country’s independence or action in international affairs stood exposed when India again abstained from the UN voting on the Israel-Iran conflict. New Delhi’s refusal to be part of the statement of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) that condemned Israel’s attack on Iran confirmed it.

On Saturday, the SCO, currently chaired by China, issued a statement that said its member states “express serious concern” over the escalating Iran-Israel tensions and “strongly condemn the military strikes carried out by Israel” on the territory of Iran.

After Israel’s initial strikes on Tehran, Indian Minister of External Affairs Subrahmanyam Jaishankar had a phone conversation with his Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi, in which he “conveyed the deep concern of the international community at the turn of events”.

Jaishankar “urged avoidance of any escalatory steps and an early return to diplomacy”, according to the Ministry of External Affairs. The ministry also underlined its concerns in a separate statement on Friday last.

“We are closely monitoring the evolving situation, including reports related to attacks on nuclear sites,” the statement said. It urged both sides to use existing channels of dialogue and diplomacy to “work towards a de-escalation of the situation”.

“India enjoys close and friendly relations with both countries and stands ready to extend all possible support,” the statement noted.

 

Column at a Glance
Israel's missile attack on Iran on June 13 has intensified global tensions and revealed India's complex foreign policy dynamics. While India claims to maintain a balanced stance, it abstained from a UN vote condemning Israel's actions and distanced itself from a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) statement criticising the strikes. India's Minister of External Affairs, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, expressed concern over the situation but emphasised India's close ties with both Iran and Israel.
Wednesday Wisdom
By Satish Misra
The Modi government's shift towards Israel has been evident since 2015, with increasing military trade and a departure from previous policies that criticised Israeli actions. This alignment reflects a broader trend of right-wing support for Israel, viewing it as an ally against perceived Muslim adversaries. Modi's historic visit to Israel in 2017 marked a significant policy shift, indicating India's growing alignment with Zionism. As tensions escalate, India's foreign policy direction will become increasingly scrutinised.

While India has been claiming that it is developing Iran’s Chabahar Port as a gateway for its exports to Central Asia and Afghanistan but the progress has been haltingly slow under US pressure. On the other hand, export-import trade between India and Israel, especially of military hardware, has been flourishing of late. India has become Israel’s largest export market for weapons, and last year India sold Israel rockets and explosives during the war in Gaza, investigations have revealed.

A day before distancing itself from the SCO statement, India abstained from voting in the United Nations General Assembly on a draft resolution that demanded an “immediate, unconditional and permanent” ceasefire in Gaza.

India’s abstention at the UN was compromised as it was influenced by New Delhi’s desire to maintain good relations with the US, particularly in the background the trade agreement with Washington – a deal New Delhi is trying to clinch before US President Donald Trump’s threatened 27 per cent tariff on Indian goods goes into effect in early July.

The shift in India’s Palestine policy had begun around mid-2015 when, in July, New Delhi abstained during a vote in the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) over a resolution that accused Israel of having committed war crimes during the Gaza conflict of 2014, named Operation Protective Edge by Israel.

Only a year back, the Modi government had voted with a majority on a resolution that was critical of Israel. Similarly, India had also changed its position vis-à-vis Jerusalem at UNESCO. In April 2016, New Delhi sided with the majority and voted in favour of an Arab-sponsored resolution which explicitly recognised the Islamic claims to Jerusalem city without any reference to the Jewish history or the existence of two Jewish temples there before the birth of Islam. But in two subsequent votes on 13 October 2016 and 2 May 2017, India chose to abstain, marking a clear departure from its earlier policy.

It was the beginning of the policy of de-hyphenating the Israeli-Palestinian issue, which became evident when Modi skipped Ramallah while visiting Israel.

Now that relations between India and Israel have strengthened and deepened in the past eight years under the Modi regime, possibly the time has come to play the new role.  

In fact, Right- wing parties and organisations like the erstwhile Avtar of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)- the Bharatiya Jan Sangh- and Hindu Mahasabha along with Rashtriya Swyamsevak Sangh (RSS) have always been ardent supporters of Israel and have been wanting the Indian government to accord full diplomatic recognition to the Jewish State.

The Jan Sangh was one of the most prominent critics of India's Israel policy of the Congress government led by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. The Jan Sangh perceived both the domestic and foreign policy of the Congress party as one of appeasing the Muslim minority and was of the view that the Indian National Congress was pro-Muslim domestically and pro-Arab externally.

The Jan Sangh’s pro-Hindu mindset was reflected in the manifesto of the party in the first general election held in 1952, wherein the party had declared that secularism, “as currently interpreted in the country is only a euphemism for the policy of Muslim appeasement. The so-called secular composite nationalism is neither nationalism nor secularism but only a compromise with communalism of those who demand a price for their lip service loyalty to this country, the manifesto had said. 

” Reflecting the same sentiments, on 23 December 1953, a Jan Sangh Member of the Lok Sabha had demanded that Muslims should not be “allowed in the army, air force and police, and they should not be allowed to occupy any key posts, including the officers of Ministers. Moreover, one hundred miles of the borders of Pakistan should be cleared of people who are likely to have leanings towards Pakistan.

There was a general agreement that the Right-wing parties, especially the Jan Sangh and its successor, the BJP, have been pro-Israeli because they are anti-Muslim. The BJP, inheriting Jan Sangh’s suspicions of the Muslim Arab states, saw in the latter's adversary, Israel, a “potential ally of India”. It was demonstrated in 1998 when the BJP-led NDA government assumed power. During the six years of the NDA government till 2004, bilateral relations with Israel deepened and were strengthened.

After three years of hesitation, Modi decided to break the tradition of his predecessors of not paying a state visit to Israel, and undertook the first-ever visit of an Indian Prime Minister to Tel Aviv in July 2017. 

Modi visited Israel on 4 July 2017. The significance of the visit was evident as both sides went the extra mile to publicly display the warmth and bonhomie. While Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remained with PM Modi for almost the entire trip, the latter reciprocated by beginning his trip with an unscheduled visit to Mount Herzl to pay his respects to the founder of modern political Zionism, Theodore Herzl.

By this, the Modi government took a policy decision to de-hyphenate the Palestine and Israeli issues. Before visiting Israel, Modi had hosted PNR President Mahmoud Abbas in New Delhi in March 2017.

Now Israel’s aggression against Iran and New Delhi’s current stand clearly shows that India has become a de facto camp follower of Zionism if not its de jury member.

In the coming days and weeks, our understanding of Indian foreign policy will become clearer and more distinct.

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