By Michael Curtis, AMERICAN THINKER
At the Maccabiah games held in Israel during July 2013, a contingent of 28 Indian Jews competed with 9000 Jewish athletes from more than 70 countries in the 38 sports contested. The members of the contingent won no medals but their team did beat the British team at cricket. Impressive though this triumph in Tel Aviv may be, far more important is the increasingly cordial relationship between Israel and India.
Cordiality was not always the case. India voted against the November 29, 1947 United Nations Partition Resolution that led to the creation of Israel. It voted in 1949 against Israel becoming a member of the United Nations. It did recognize the existence of Israel as a state in 1950. This position was supported by Hindu organizations throughout the country while the ruling Congress party appeased the Muslim population. But India, a founding member of the nonaligned movement and essentially pro-Arab in its policy positions, did not establish formal diplomatic relations with the Jewish state until January 1992. At that point J. N. Dixit, the Indian foreign minister, complained, “What have the Arabs given us?”
The relationship between the two countries has been uneven depending on the policies of the different Indian political leaders in power, though official contacts have been maintained. The relationship cannot be termed an alliance but clearly closer relations have been developing in recent years. India, conscious for many years of the power and the influence of the Soviet Union, supposedly anti-colonialist and anti-imperialist, concerned to placate Arab opinion, worried about energy supplies from the Gulf states, and always anxious about the more than 120 million Muslims in its population, has since the fall of the Soviet Union become aware of the benefits gained from cooperation with Israel. The benefits have largely been in the area of mutual trade, but both countries have experienced security problems, difficulties with Muslim minorities and have been confronted by Islamist terrorists. To this end a joint anti-terror commission was set up in 2000 to deal with the problem of Islamist extremists.
The present reality is that bilateral trade between the two countries, about $200 million in 2001, amounted in 2010 to $4.7 billion, and in 2013 to $6.6 billion, in addition to a $50 million academic research arrangement. India is now Israel’s second largest export market, and its eighth largest trading partner. Israel has access to the Indian domestic market while Indians have access to Israel’s high technology sector. In 2013, negotiations began for a free trade agreement involving technology, biotechnology, and agriculture. Already there is a three-year agricultural agreement according to which Israel helps Indian farmers; it has set up 28 agricultural training centers in 10 of the Indian states.
Indian officials appreciate the value of Israeli expertise. By an agreement of May 2005 for joint endeavors five areas have been listed as priorities in a number of technology fields: nanotechnology, biotechnology, water management, alternative energy, and space and aeronautics.
Since 2006 the two countries have been cooperating on water technology, especially in the fields of drip irrigation and desalination, in both of which Israel is a global leader. A $50 million agricultural fund focuses on dairy farming technology and micro-irrigation. An agreement in 2011 fostered cooperation on urban water systems. This resulted from years of joint research and shared investment in water technologies.
In their search for methods to provide cleaner water for the 1.2 billion population in their country, Indian officials and engineers have been consulting Israeli personnel who have solved many of the similar problems that India is facing. To find solutions for the major water crisis in their country, a group of 16 Indian officials in June 2013 visited wastewater treatment plants in Israel, and met with leading environmentalists and agronomists. They commented on the success of Israeli technologies that India was unable to implement at this time.
Apart from technological and research assistance, Israel has also been involved in Indian security. A major part of the trade relationship between the two countries has been in arms supplies; Israel is now, after Russia, the largest supplier of arms to India. The two countries have cooperated in joint research on military weapons and on intelligence issues. India launched a 300-kilogram satellite for Israel through its space program. India bought the Barak-1 missiles from Israel as well as an anti-aircraft system, missiles, unmanned aerial vehicles, electronic equipment, and laser-guided bombs. India also been considering, or rather reconsidering, buying the Israeli Iron Dome.
All this may produce political changes in India’s Middle East policies. India has long been supportive of the Palestinian cause. It was, in 1975, the first non-Arab state to recognize the PLO, as “the sole, legitimate representative of the Palestinian people,” a phrase coined by Yasser Arafat. It was, in 1988, one of the first countries to recognize the “State of Palestine.” The Indian position on the Arab-Israeli conflict was made clear by Manmohan Singh, prime minister at the UN General Assembly session on September 24, 2011. He then declared, “India is steadfast in its support for the Palestinian people’s struggle for a sovereign, independent, viable and united state of Palestine with East Jerusalem as its capital, living within secure and recognizable borders side by side and at peace with Israel.” On November 29, 2012 India cosponsored the resolution of the UN General Assembly upgrading the status of Palestinians to non-member observer state. It gave $10 million to the Palestinian Authority.
Nevertheless, though India nominally supports the Palestinian bid for full membership of the United Nations, it still believes that the only realistic path for the Palestinians to achieve statehood is through direct negotiations. The Hindu majority in India is one of the world’s least receptive peoples to anti-Semitism. It is also aware that, notwithstanding Indian’s support of Palestinians, that Muslims will generally remain hostile to it. They remember that while the Palestinians favored Pakistan in its dispute with India over Kashmir, Israel supported India. Above all, they are aware that Israel and India share a common enemy, Islamic extremism. This may bring the two countries even closer together.
It would be all to the good for India and Israel to develop closer ties; this will be particularly important from an economic point of view if Europe imposes trade sanctions on Israel over the Palestinian issue, a process that has already begun.
But the fact of their large Moslem minority applying political pressure in the other direction, combined with the fact of many Indian nationals working as expatriate labor in Moslem countries of the Middle East – and who are thus in effect, “hostages” – places a limit on the extent to which India is going to take any risks on behalf of Israel.
Also, what Israel seems to be in greater and greater need of these days, what with Obama in the WH, is a reliable ally on the UNSC. India has no permanent seat there – perhaps they should, but they don’t – so they are not in a position to provide this crucial assistance to Israel.
This need may persist post-Obama; the forces the brought Obama to power here – i.e., the Arab/Moslem Petrodollar Pimp lobby – will still be here after he is gone. The influence of these over-funded medieval barbarians, sadly, seems to only increase. They not only have warped our foreign policy here in the U.S., but they even hobble our domestic energy policy. And, just as the installed Obama, they may very well install his successor. Hillary is the next one in line, and if Chris Christie – who also feeds from their trough – gets the GOP nod in ’16, then it is clearly “game over” here in the U.S. where Israel is concerned.
Hopefully, at some point in the not-too-distant future, the UN will fall apart and become irrelevant. But that day is not on the immediate horizon, so the problem remains for the time being.
Who could replace the U.S. as Israel’s main ally, where this is relevant to poltical support on the world stage, in places such as the UN? Right now, unfortunately, no one, or at least no one who wouldn’t ask as much or more of Israel compared with Obama. Long term, if the U.S. remains the de facto ‘Saudi States of America’, the only rational choice will be China.
NormanF Said:
“Hinduism” is a collection of many beliefs and it serves people on all level of spiritual development.
From stone and monkey worshipers, to Enlightened masters who are beyond all beliefs and in direct communion with the divine.
It is like having the spiritual day-care, kindergarten, primary school, high school, college, post graduate study, and doctoral program all under one roof.
@ keelie:
@ NormanF:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bx9OWjO97rk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6kLHoafncQ
@ NormanF:
Good to see someone who actually understands Hinduism. The main point about Hinduism is that it is highly monotheistic, a point that as you say, is grossly misunderstood in the West. Everything in the universe is a manifestation or aspect of the “One God”.
@ Eric R.:
The Hindus are aware of centuries of unrelieved Muslim subjugation, oppression and genocide. The Hindus were not one of the ancient Peoples Of The Book – so they did not benefit from Muslim dhimmitude.
Hinduism doesn’t have idols – a point misunderstood in the West. It has avatars that represent various spiritual forces – translated as gods but this isn’t correct. Its unique among world religions in having nothing like a single founder or anything like a unified religious philosophy of life.
In that respect, Hinduism is as varied and as diverse as India has been down through the ages.
Living in NJ, I deal a lot with Hindu Indian immigrants and first generation Indian-Americans (there are about as many Hindus as Jews in NJ – Indians make up a greater % of the population in NJ than they do in any other state). They are strongly pro-Israel (possibly on a level exceeding your average secular liberal-left Jew). The Congress Party, which has dominated Indian politics, actually does not get a majority of support of Hindus; it has stayed in power with about 40-45% of Hindus supporting them, plus the overwhelming majority of Muslims.
The Hindu party, the BJP, is expected to take power at the next election. Their leader, Nahrendra Modi, is actually banned from the USA for allegedly inciting anti-Muslim riots. (But Muslim leaders who slaughter non-Muslims get a pass from President Hussein, of course.). The BJP should improve relations with Israel should it come to power.