/ world today news/ On October 26, the Qatari authorities sentenced eight Indian citizens to death on charges of espionage for Israel. The media reported that the accused were former Indian career officers and worked for a private company, Al Dahra Global Technologies and Consultancy Services.
They were detained by Qatari security services as early as August 2022, but the announcement of the sentence coincided with the escalation in the Gaza Strip. This led to speculation that the sentence was imposed because of India’s pro-Israel stance.
And indeed, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, almost immediately after the Hamas attack on Israel, expressed support for the latter and wrote on his social network: “We stand in solidarity with Israel at this difficult time.” Four days later in a telephone conversation with Benjamin Netanyahu expressed full support for Israel’s actions.
At the same time, the Indian leadership did not call on the parties for a ceasefire and did not mention the need to create a Palestinian state, as stated by many state leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin.
But it wasn’t always like that. India has historically supported the Palestinians and voted against the UN resolution establishing Israel in 1947 before recognizing the Palestine Liberation Organization as the representative of the Palestinian people in 1974.
As a member of the Non-Aligned Movement, India provided diplomatic support to the PLO, condemning at the UN “large-scale, systematic and gross violations of international human rights and fundamental freedoms” by Israel. However, with the collapse of the bipolar world system, the country changed its position.
As early as 1950, India recognized Israel and allowed the country to open a consulate in Mumbai. In 1992, India and Israel normalized their relations, and at the same time, New Delhi began buying arms from Tel Aviv for the first time.
After Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party came to power in 2014, relations with Israel began to develop even more rapidly.
However, the same paradox can be found in relations with the United States: Hindu nationalists have always advocated rapprochement with these countries, even when the Indian Congress was in power.
In 2015, New Delhi abstained from a vote at the UN Human Rights Council on a report criticizing Israel’s 2014 war in Gaza. It was the first time India did not vote against Israel in a world body.
In July 2017, Modi visited Tel Aviv, where he was received by Benjamin Netanyahu. And in 2018, the Prime Minister of Israel made a repeat visit to New Delhi. Since then, contacts between them can be considered friendly.
Yet towards Palestine, India has not yet had the same approach it demonstrated in 2023. When a new escalation occurred in May 2021 and Israeli security forces used violence against Palestinians on the grounds of Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, Hamas and other groups have fired hundreds of rockets into Israeli territory. Israel responded by striking Gaza, killing around 300 Palestinians. India then condemned both Hamas and Israel.
Close relations
As Foreign Policy suggests, several factors are now influencing Modi’s calculations. First, India faces national elections next year.
Bharatiya Janata has probably already written off the Muslim vote and Modi doesn’t care at all how they vote as his party preaches Hindu nationalism.
Second, India has long had problems with terrorist attacks by Islamist militants. Therefore, the firm stance against Hamas attacks is also a tacit signal to Islamabad, which New Delhi accuses of having links with the extremists.
Modi has previously compared India’s surgical strikes on militant bases in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir to Israeli covert operations against militants on foreign soil, suggesting Israel’s military might is worth emulating.
It is necessary to clarify here that Pakistan itself has been suffering from terrorist attacks by Islamists for many years, so Islamabad cannot be unequivocally accused of supporting militants who carry out terrorist attacks on Indian soil.
Moreover, in addition to the Islamists, Naxalites are active in India, adherents of left-wing ideologies – from Marxism to Maoism, who have a wide network of their camps in a number of states.
India may also have taken note of the fact that a number of key Arab states, from Egypt to Saudi Arabia, have not supported Hamas.
Unlike previous crises, such countries had normalized or were in the process of normalizing relations with Israel when Hamas carried out the current attack.
The lack of full support for Palestine is due to their cautious stance and US involvement in the conflict. However, it is growing every day, both on the part of the authorities and on the part of the people.
The cautious reaction of some Arab countries gives Delhi some diplomatic leeway. Especially as it relates to its growing commercial and strategic relations with the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council.
Finally, India’s unequivocal condemnation of Hamas could signal to the United States its willingness to support its critical ally.
This public stance could allay concerns of the US administration about India’s shaky stance vis-à-vis Russia, as Modi did not condemn the conduct of military defense in Ukraine, which has caused frustration in Washington.
It should also be added that when Modi was the governor of Gujarat, numerous pogroms of Muslims took place there with the connivance of the authorities.
It is therefore likely that Netanyahu’s and Modi’s views of Muslims as adversaries and even enemies are close and linked by the uniqueness of two religions – Hinduism and Judaism. Experts also find that the ideologies of Zionism and Hindu nationalism are somewhat similar.
In addition, India and Israel are also linked by close military-technical cooperation. India became one of the largest buyers of Israeli military equipment and ammunition in the 1990s, and later began acquiring unmanned aerial vehicles, radars and missile defense systems.
India makes purchases worth billions of dollars. On the other hand, Israel has allowed Indian technology companies into its market.
There is also cooperation in agriculture and energy. Indian intelligence agencies have also used Israeli firm NSO’s notorious Pegasus spyware to spy on the opposition and suspected militants.
External threats
Although India’s official position shows a pro-Israel bias, opinion in the country is divided. Moreover, the Palestinians are supported not only by the Muslim population of India, but also by Christians as well as by left-wing parties and politicians.
The website of the largest opposition party, the Indian National Congress, does not contain any information about events in Palestine, only press releases on domestic political issues and criticism of the ruling regime.
On October 26, the Indian Union Muslim League party held a mass rally in support of the Palestinians in the state of Kerala; similar actions were held in Calcutta, where left sentiment is strong, and in the state of Bihar.
Meanwhile, there is evidence that the Palestinian conflict could escalate in divided Kashmir. According to reports in the Indian media, on the night of October 26-27, the Pakistani military shelled five Indian posts along the dividing line in Kashmir.
The fire continued for eight hours, as a result of which one soldier was injured, and local residents left their homes and hid in shelters. There is no information about this incident in the Pakistani media, but in the Indian media it is noted that a similar attack took place on October 17.
Earlier, firing on the Line of Separation ended after negotiations between India and Pakistan declared a ceasefire in February 2021.
However, according to Indian police, the situation in the state of Jammu and Kashmir remains tense, with India continuing to accuse Pakistan of training militants. Several paramilitary Islamist organizations are known to operate in the state.
In any case, the current conflict in Gaza will be used by Pakistan to draw attention to the problem of Muslims in the Indian-controlled part of Kashmir and to demand a referendum on self-determination in accordance with the UN resolution.
And if the current issue of Palestine strengthens pan-Muslim solidarity, it may create new challenges for India in the future.
However, India is trying to learn from the current conflict thousands of kilometers away. Bloomberg writes that the country is creating a surveillance system using unmanned aerial vehicles along the entire perimeter of its external border to repel surprise attacks like the one by Hamas in Israel.
Defense Ministry officials have already met with six local suppliers of surveillance and reconnaissance drones, according to agency sources, and the order is expected to be announced next month. The military hopes to have the system up and running on some sections of the border as early as May.
Although Indian officials believe they can hold their ground, the polarization over Israel and Palestine could somewhat undermine the Bharatiya Janata Party’s ratings.
Hindutva’s emphasis on anti-Muslim sentiment and clear preference for cooperation with Israel and the US will also make other countries that have adopted pro-Palestinian positions or are critical of US hegemony wary. Modi’s personal views are generally understandable, but could have negative consequences for India.
Translation: SM
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