India has been experiencing a paradigm shift in its foreign policy orientation. Once it had been one of the leaders of the Non-Aligned Movement and the post-colonial world (then the Third World, now the Global South) throughout the Cold War. In solidarity with Palestine, it avoided establishing official relations with Israel for decades. As one of the leaders of the anti-imperialist coalition, India opposed the partition of Palestine in 1947 and became one of the first states who recognize the Palestine Liberation Organization. Parallel to its traditional global vision, India supported the U.N. General Assembly resolution in 1975 that equated Zionism, Israel’s state ideology, with racism. The founding fathers of India, namely Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru, supported the Palestinian struggle against the Israeli occupation.
However, during the current government under the leadership of far-right Narendra Modi, India is no more one of the leaders of the Global South. Modi, who became the first Indian prime minister to visit Israel in 2017, has very close relations with the far-right Benjamin Netanyahu government in Israel. Israel, the most effective imperialist project in the non-Western world, is now considered one of India’s major sources of inspiration.
For India’s far-right government, Israel is not only a strategic partner but also a model state, since Israel institutionalized occupation and the apartheid regime. Under Modi, India-Israel cooperation has taken on a distinct ideological tone. Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party finds the same tone in Israel’s ethno-nationalist politics. Zionism’s vision of a Jewish “homeland” in Palestine has become a model for Hindutva ideology, which advocates the establishment of a Hindu-supremacist nation in India.
Nowadays, compared with some Western governments facing growing public pressure to suspend military support to Israel, India is Israel’s most reliable and stable partner. India imported about $5 billion worth of Israeli arms in the last 25 years. Also, India imports surveillance and military systems from Israel. These systems serve as tools of control for India.
On the other hand, India is a supplier of arms to Israel. Different Indian companies, such as Adani-Elbit Advanced Systems India (a joint Israeli-Indian venture), the state-owned Munitions India and Premier Explosives supply arms and ammunition to Israel. The Adani Group, which owns a large share of the Haifa Port, has exported Hermes 900 drones to Israel to be used in the destruction of Gaza and killing the innocent Palestinians.
The political and security rhetoric of these two states is quite similar. There are many explanations and developments that show the ideological overlap between the two countries. For example, India and Israel follow similar policies to the occupied territories of Kashmir and Gaza, respectively. The Indian government has been trying to replicate the Israeli policies. The Hindu government, which wants to find a “solution” in Kashmir similar to Israel’s policy toward the Palestinians, encourages the Hindu settlers to move to Kashmir and live there. The Hindu government abolished the limited autonomy of Kashmir several years ago. Similar to the Israeli policy of illegal settlement (occupation), thousands of non-local settlers were given residency permits to live in the region.
Both states target civilian areas, but claim that they target “terrorist infrastructure.” Both states use drones against civilians living in Kashmir and Gaza, respectively. Similar to the Israeli atrocities against the Palestinians, the Indian security forces detained thousands of Kashmiris and demolished their homes.
There are many indications of the pro-Israeli Indian policies over the last several years. As an indication of the ominous alliance between India and Israel, New Delhi refused to join the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) condemnation of Israel’s attack on Iran, which is also a member of the organization. The SCO members declared that any unlawful actions directed against SCO members are unacceptable. In other words, India broke with the rest of the member states.
Another indication of the Indian-Israeli alliance is the latest conflict between India and Pakistan. The far-right government of Modi has attacked Pakistan in response to the deadly attack on April 22 in Pahalgam, a town in Jammu and Kashmir, killing 26 tourists. Although the Pakistani officials rejected the claims and denied the involvement, the Indian government held the Pakistani government responsible for the attack. As a response, Pakistan called for an international investigation and showed its intention to disperse the clouds of the attack. However, the Indian government attacked Pakistan with the Israeli-made drones, Harops and Herons. According to the reports, India also used the Israeli-made Barak-8 defense system to intercept retaliatory strikes from Pakistan.
A third indication is direct and indirect Indian support to Israel for intelligence gathering in Middle Eastern states for Israel. India has been working closely with the Israeli security institutions to infiltrate the Iranian state through high-tech instruments. India facilitated the infiltration of Israeli intelligence officers into the Iranian institutions.
The fourth indication is India's continuous support to Israel during its attacks against Iran, which is known as a close partner of India. Iran is known as India’s conduit to the Central Asian region and Afghanistan. India has been using Iran’s Chabahar Port as the main gateway to Central Asia and considers this port as an alternative to Pakistan’s Gwadar Port. The Indian government is ready to risk its cooperative relations with Iran for the sake of Israel. India also jeopardized its energy security, since it is heavily dependent on the Middle Eastern oil resources.
Considering the pro-Iranian and anti-Israeli remarks of the Pakistani officials, India risked losing Iran as a reliable regional partner. That is, India’s pro-Israeli policies may indirectly enhance Pakistan’s strategic importance. It seems that India’s close relations with Israel, especially in the defense and technology sectors, will alienate Iran.
India’s support for Israel has also grown during the ongoing genocide in Gaza and during Israel’s attacks against Iran. All these developments eventually signal a potential deviation in the Indian traditional foreign policy orientation, resistance against the colonial global projections and prioritization of its relations with the Global South. All in all, by allying itself with Israel, India jeopardizes its relations not only with the Muslim world but also with most parts of the Global South.
