India’s Stand on Indo-Israel-Palestine Relationship

What is the issue?

• Israel-Palestine conflict is a long standing one in which India has taken different stands for years.
• Present Indian Administration is taking a pragmatic approach through a diplomatic relationship between both nations.

What is the conflict between Israel-Palestine?

• Brutal European anti-Semitism in 19^th century convinced the Jewish people could never survive outside of a country of their own which made an emphasis on Zionism.
• Zionism is Israel's national ideology and it believe Judaism is a nationality as well as a religion, and that Jews deserve their own state in their ancestral homeland, Israel.
• Palestinians are the Arab population who hails from the land which is under Israel, are against the Zionism ideology.
• Arabs often see Zionism as a species of colonialism and racism aimed at appropriating Palestinian land and systematically excluding the Palestinians that remain.
• Due to this Palestinians wants the territory as Palestine to be established as a state by that name on all or part of the same land.

What are recent incidents in Israel-Palestine conflict?

• The west bank and Gaza strip of the Israel is claimed by the Palestinians, and Tel Aviv is being the capital of Israel as of now.
• But in December 2017, US administration introduced a proposal for making Jerusalem (a holy place of Jews, Muslims and Christians) as the capital of Israel.
• This proposal was opposed by many nations by introducing a resolution in UN. Click here to know more about UN resolution
• India also signed against US moves amidst of maintaining a good ties with Israel.

What was India’s stand on Palestine so far?

• In 1950s India ultimately accepted Israel as a country following the lead given by two Muslim-majority countries, Turkey and Iran.
• In 1953, Israel opened a consulate in Mumbai, but didn’t had a diplomatic presence in New Delhi.
• On the other hand, India in 1975 became the first non-Arab country to recognise Yasser Arafat’s Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, and permitted it have an independent office in New Delhi.
• In 1978, India raised its voice to protest against the injustice being meted out to Palestinians by the Zionist attempts.
• India’s position on Palestine has been guided by the general consensus in the Arab world, the Non-Aligned Movement and the United Nations.

What is the present stand of India in the issue?

• India established full diplomatic relations with Israel in January 1992, over 40 years after it recognised that country.
• Since then, successive governments have followed a policy of strengthening the relationship with Israel, while maintaining diplomatic support for the Palestinian cause.
• But present Indian administration is expected to be tilted towards the Israel, as India elevates its strategic partnership with Israel in areas such as defence, security, agriculture, water management and innovation.
• At the same time with its vote in the UN Jerusalem, India has demonstrated the willingness and capability to follow its own geopolitical and pragmatic interests.

Source: Financial Express, Aljazeera