PM’s Visit to Israel

Why in news?

Narendra Modi will be the first Indian PM to travel to Israel 25 years after the two countries established diplomatic relations in 1992.

What are the things that define our relationship?

• Defence: India is Israel’s top destination for arms exports, buying 41% of Israel’s arms export between 2012 and 2016.
• India and Israel also closely cooperate on counter-terrorism issues through a joint working group on counter-terrorism.
• Diplomacy: Since 1992, India has developed significant defense and trade relations with Israel while also maintaining a strong commitment to the creation of a Palestinian state.
• The Key takeaway from this visit would be whether our PM will mention Palestine at all during his visit, barring the usual remarks about support for a two-state formula.
• Agriculture: An Indo-Israel agriculture action plan for 2015-18 is operational, and 15 of the proposed 26 centers of excellence in agriculture are being developed in India with Israel’s help.
• India has benefited from Israeli technologies in horticulture mechanisation, protected cultivation, orchard and canopy management, nursery management, micro-irrigation and post-harvest management.
• Water Management: Recently, the union cabinet approved a MoU with Israel on the National Campaign for Water Conservation in India.
• Being located in a semi-arid region with limited sources of fresh drinking water, Israel has developed water-management technologies which will be useful in India.
• Trade: Israel was India’s 38th largest trading partner. The trade balance stood in India’s favour at $1.10 billion in 2016-17.
• Mineral fuels and oils are India’s leading export to Israel. India’s major imports from Israel included natural or cultured pearls and precious stones.
• Diaspora: An estimated 85,000 Jews of Indian-origin live in Israel, the majority being from Maharashtra (Bene Israelis), with some from Kerala (Cochini Jews) and Kolkata (Baghdadi Jews).

Can we expect any substantial shift in relations?

• The current transactional partnership which has emerged over the last decade holds at least three advantages.
• First, it benefits both India and Israel in the defense sector. Israel has become one of India’s most important weapons suppliers, after Russia and the US.
• Second, trade and defence ties have developed in isolation from the fluctuation of political events, whether these were regional crises (in Gaza) or domestic political transitions (across the Congress and BJP).
• Finally, the current nature of the partnership means that state governments can directly seek collaborations and investments in agricultural and water technologies from Israel. 
• Despite all this, the structural differences between Indian and Israeli national security situations, worldviews (Ex: on Iran), and the absence of explicitly shared enemies limit any stronger strategic rapprochement.
• It seems that both regional pressures and opportunities have compelled Modi to recalibrate back to a more neutral approach.
• Given the unique nature of this bilateral relationship and of the imminent visit, a paradigmatic shift remains a possibility.

Source: The Hindu & The Indian Express