India & Israel- Where the sky is not the limit

Prime Minister Narendra Modi with his Israeli counterpart (PTI File)

A historic visit

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ongoing visit to Israel is, in his own words, “Historic”. However, the true history of India’s relations with Israel begins much before.

India officially recognized the State of Israel in 1950. Establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries had to wait for another 42 years. In 1992, India finally formalized diplomatic ties with Israel.

The major reason for this delay was India’s support for the Palestinian cause. Israel, to its credit, understood the domestic compulsions of successive Indian governments. The State of Israel was content to wait till an Indian government finally found the conviction to establish a formal diplomatic relationship.

Age old ties

Tracing the India Israel relationship only from the 20^th century would be an error. This is because Jews from what was then known as Judea, first arrived on Indian soil more than 2000 years ago. They first came to the Malabar coast of present day Kerala as traders. Then they came to Kerala as refugees when the Jews were expelled from their homeland. The first Synagogue in India was built in Matancherry near Kochi in the year 1567. It still stands. This makes it older than the Taj Mahal as well as the Red Fort. The Jew Town of Kochi then thrived well into the 20^th century.

After the establishment of the State of Israel, the Jews of Kochi and Mumbai chose to migrate to Israel and accept Israeli citizenship. It is therefore not a surprise to hear both Malayalam and Marathi being spoken by certain families in Israel.

Defence and security

The defence cooperation between India and Israel is the defining feature of mutual ties. Israel supported India with defence supplies during the 1962 Chinese Aggression as well as during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War. More recently, in 1999, Israel stepped up and supplied artillery shells to India during the Kargil conflict. India was facing a critical shortage of these shells at the time. The Indian Army used these shells with great effect to evict intruders from the icy heights of Kargil, and Batalik. Israel has supplied India with Assault rifles, missiles and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles. As of April 2017, Israel was close to replacing the USA as India’s largest defence supplier. An Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) press release in April had then announced the award of Indian defence contracts worth nearly $2 billion (Rs. 13,000 Crore) to Israeli firms.

Cooperation between the Intelligence agencies of India and Israel to combat the threat of radical Islamic terrorism has been an ongoing, if underplayed, feature of Indo-Israel ties.

Agriculture

On the civilian side, Agriculture is the most important area of India-Israel relations. Israel plans to set up 27 “Centres of Excellence” in India to provide Indian farmers with assistance and technology. 15 of these have already been set up. Mango orchards in Haryana and vegetable nurseries in Gujarat have been established, with Israeli drip-irrigation technology.

People to people

In the sphere of people to people ties, Israelis have almost made Himachal Pradesh and Goa second homes. Young Israelis, after completing their mandatory military service, choose to relax in the mountains of Himachal Pradesh and the beaches of Goa. Here, Israeli cuisine is as easily available as local food.

A sober aspect of people to people ties is that Indians and Israelis have forged bonds of blood by being at the receiving end of terrorism. The Jewish Chabad House was a prime target of the Lashkar e Toiba terrorists during the 2008 Mumbai attacks. A heart-warming story of love emerged during those horrific attacks, when little Moshe, an Israeli infant was saved by his Indian nurse Sandra, though his parents were killed. Sandra was then given honorary Israeli citizenship and moved to Israel to stay with and care for Moshe.

Sky is not the limit

Prime Minister Modi on 4 July 2017 became the first ever Indian Prime Minister to visit Israel, following the visit of President Mukherjee earlier.  He was personally received by Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel. The Israeli Prime Minister referred to Israel’s previously declared intent to send satellites to space on Indian launch vehicles. He used this to set the tone for future Indo-Israeli ties. PM Netanyahu said that when it came to India Israel ties, the sky was certainly not the limit.

India and Israel have a lot to offer the world as well as to each other. The warmth between the two leaders will hopefully translate into even better bilateral ties.

A version of this article first appeared in Hindi on Samachar First. Read it here at http://samacharfirst.com/opinions/israel-indo-relationship-no-sky-limit-to/