India and the Palestinians

Why in the News?

India has expressed support to Israel stating that “people of India stand in solidarity with Israel in this difficult hour”, soon after the Hamas attack on Israel.

Why was India’s diplomatic policy leaned towards Palestine in the initial years?

1. India voted against UN Resolution 181 (II) in 1947, which partitioned Mandatory Palestine between Jews and Palestinian Arabs.
2. Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru preferred a federal state instead, with Arabs and Jews enjoying the widest possible autonomy, with a special status for Jerusalem.
3. Though India was deeply sympathetic towards the Jewish people for the historical persecution they faced, it was opposed to the creation of a Jewish state in Palestine because it would be unjust towards the 600,000 Arabs who already lived there. 
4. After the State of Israel came into existence, a couple of factors coloured India’s perspective. 
   1. India recognized Israel in 1950, but it did not establish diplomatic relations until 1992.
   2. India was sympathetic towards the Arabs and sensitive to their opinion as India faced partition and had a sizable Muslim population. 
   3. Pakistan was firmly in support of Palestine, and India had to match that stance.

Did establishment of diplomatic relations with Israel alter India’s support for the Palestinians?

1. India’s reluctance to establish diplomatic relations with Israel until 1992 was due to Cold War dynamics- Americans, were firmly behind Israel, and thus the Soviets had come out in support of the Arabs.
2. India, though non-aligned had inclination towards Soviet and so continued with its pro-Palestine stance.
3. After the cold war, India took an extremely bold decision to establish diplomatic relations with Israel, without caring about the fallout with the Arab countries.
4. However, India’s principled policy of backing the Palestinian cause was not abandoned.
5. Thus, India based on its national interest turned out a policy of maintaining good relations with Israel as well as keeping up support for Palestine and further developing relations with the Arab world.

Has India of late embraced Israel at the expense of the Palestinians. Why?

1. India is closer today to Israel than ever before with close economic relationship, especially in the defence sector, where India is one of Israel’s biggest clients.
2. With regard to Palestine, India has toned down its voice of support especially in fora such as the United Nations, in the recent years.
3. A feeling of India’s pro-Palestine stance over the years has not yielded dividends in terms of national interest. Palestine has often offered unqualified support to Pakistan on the issue of Kashmir.
4. However, India’s formal position remains unchanged i.e., the two-state solution, with Israel and Palestine living side by side as good neighbours. 
5. Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Ramallah in the West Bank in 2018, becoming the first Indian PM to do so.

Should India worry about a backlash to its pro-Israel stance in the current escalation?

1. Regimes in Arab countries have lost interest in the Palestinian cause.
2. Countries such as Saudi Arabia want to normalise relations with Israel.
3. While the Hamas attack will bring back the issue of Palestine in conversations on the Arab table, it is unlikely to affect India’s relationship with these countries.