India-Israel friendship – A legion of doom in the making?

• From the eye of Pakistan

An ancient proverb suggests; my potential enemy’s enemy is my potential friend.

Ancient but not obsolete, however, this proverb till date remains among a country’s primary concerns while mapping out the potential diplomatic relations, and lobbying in the world in persuasion of her interests.

The recent visit of Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to India is a possible reflection of the aforementioned philosophy in the former’s, as well as the latter’s diplomatic outreach, if viewed from Pakistan’s perspective, as one country is not recognised and the other is a hostile eastern neighbour to her. There is a growing political consensus among both, India and Israel, that the relations between the two countries are critical for not just their national security, but economic and technological progress as well. Netanyahu’s five-day visit to India precisely marked the expansion of Indo-Israel relations beyond just defense, and emphasised more on economic and high-end technological cooperation as Israel’s technological prowess in domains like agriculture, biotechnology, waste water recycling, desalination, etc, remains unmatched, and India wishes to acquire the same. The two leaders also stressed the need to increase people to people contacts through cinema screening and increased tourism. Netanyahu’s last evening in India was spent attending a special event called “Bollywood Shalom”, where he stated, “We want Bollywood in Israel”. The five-day visit covered the cities of New Delhi, Agra, Ahmedabad, and Mumbai.

Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit came a month after India’s voting against recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) session. Despite the oddity, the former visiting India signifies Indian diplomacy’s effectiveness in presenting and standing by their position of interest in the international arena.

While there can be grave challenges in it, it is imperative for Pakistan to maintain a balance in exploring and enhancing diplomatic relations with the world powers

The relations between India and Israel have strengthened over the period of 25 years since the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two back in 1992. The Israeli PM, in the past, had declared sky as the limit while explaining the potential in Indo-Israel relations. With Prime Minister Narendra Modi in office, in particular, the bilateral relations with Israel were expected to be on a high-rise, as Israel invested heavily in Gujrat province during his tenure as chief minister there. Both Indian and Israeli leaderships are now on the same page when it comes to an aggressive perusal of Indo-Israel relations, despite potential challenges with respect to Iran, China, and Palestine. Also even after being declared an existential threat to Israel, Iran continues to be the third largest supplier of oil to India. China, similarly, being a regional Indian competitor, is Israel’s largest trading partner in Asia. India also stands by its position on Palestine. The foreign policy of two potential allies apparently is not an all-or-nothing business as both claim that they are willing to work with any country which is willing to work with them.

For Pakistan, the burgeoning relations between India and Israel have always remained a cause of concern as the Indian-Israeli axis has allegedly been a major cause of security unrest in Islamabad. With the United States declaring its policy to cut off military aid to Pakistan, Netanyahu’s visit and rumors of defense deals with India may cause the domestic policy makers to sit with their heads joined, although there has been no official response to the Israeli PM’s visit to New Delhi as yet. Whereas the relations with the hostile eastern neighbour have remained ironically troubled, the possibility of any establishment of relations with the Jewish state is far from happening due to the ideological differences. The India-Israel-US nexus growing in strength might push Pakistan further to potential options like China, Russia, and Turkey for gaining grounds on diplomatic, economic, technology, and defense fronts; as diplomatic isolation in today’s world is not the road leading to progress and prosperity.

While there can be grave challenges in it, it is imperative for Pakistan to maintain a balance in exploring and enhancing diplomatic relations with the world powers. Although the US has pushed Pakistan against the wall, the Pakistani side along with defending and maintaining its justified position on terrorism, and related issues, must work for betterment of relations with the US. If India, after voting against Jerusalem being the capital of Israel in the UNGA, can move forward in its bilateral relations with the latter, there is no reason why Pakistan can, and must, not with the US. 

More than a threat, Pakistan must take the India-Israel romance as an opportunity to step on the paddle of its diplomatic drive further, as the best way to ensure peace and stability is from a position of strength which can only be achieved through a proactive and effective diplomatic outreach.  

Pro-action, after all, is better than reaction.