Muhammad Fazeel
The historical development in the relationship of diplomacy between Israel and India is an incredible change in the scope of the international relations theory. The bilateral relations have shifted since the establishment of Israel in 1948 and independence of India in 1947, but have been changing to a more assertive relationship with each other, with increasing strength of strategic alliance. In the early Cold War period, India had a low level of contact with Israel, a policy of advocacy of Palestinian interests and embracing of the Non-Alignment policy. The end of the Cold War, however, brought about new geopolitical patterns that saw the two states re-evaluate their foreign policies. Diplomatic relations were established in 1992 hence establishing accessibility to collaborative relations in the areas of defence, technology, agriculture and trade. In the next decades, common security interests, technological stakes and strategicity have continued to bring the two states closer. However, currently the growing India-Israel relationship is often viewed by Pakistani analysts as a strategic nexus, with potential implications to the South Asian security relationship. Although the relationship is officially defined as the defence modernisation and collaboration in combating terrorism, it is rather contentious, considering the depth of this relationship and how it is likely to affect the security environment in Pakistan and its region in general.
The first policy that India adopted towards Israel was skepticism even though they noticed the State of Israel in 1950. The Nehru government was careful in forging any full diplomatic relationship on the basis of internal political reasons and also, it did not want to undermine its strong relationship with the Arab states and the entire Muslim world. The stand was also supported by the fact that India was sympathetic to the Palestinian cause, which was demonstrated by the support of the Palestinian Arabs by Mahatma Gandhi in his speech in India as well as his subsequent attacks at the partition of Palestine. As a result, India voted against the Partition Plan of 1947 by the United Nations and against admitting Israel to the United Nations. However, there was slow development of covert security cooperation. In 1962, Israel provided military aid to India, but quietly during the Sino-Indian War and the Indo-Pakistan War in 1965. Collaboration also grew in 1971 Indo-Pakistani conflict as India sought the help of Israel via diplomacy. Another landmark was reached in the year 1992 when India formed full diplomatic relations with Israel and since then bilateral relations between the two countries grew at a very fast rate. The high-level visits became common and in 2003, the Prime Minister of Israel Ariel Sharon paid a visit, and later, the further visits became even more intense with the leadership of Narendra Modi and Benjamin Netanyahu. In 2017, the historic visit of an Indian prime minister, Modi, to Israel was symbolic of the change of the relationship between the two countries, which had been mild cooperation to direct strategic partnership.
A defense relationship is the key to the relations between India and Israel. Israel today is one of the major suppliers of high end defence technology in India, with its offerings comprising of high end systems such as unmanned aerial vehicles, missile systems, radar networks and electronic warfare equipment. The notable such joint venture has been the Barak-8 surface-to-air missile system, a joint venture by the Defence Research and Development Organisation of India and Israeli Aerospace Industries. The system is designed to intercept aircrafts, drones and missiles and this is an example of a significant milestone in bilateral defence collaboration. Israel too has sold to India sophisticated unmanned aerial vehicles like the Heron and Searcher drones, which are used to gather intelligence information and spy. In addition, the Israeli technologies have been installed into the Indian fighters such as the Tejas Light Combat Aircraft, which has improved radar scanning, electronic warfare and the overall combat effectiveness. Besides procurement the relationship has grown to include joint production and technological co-operation. Through the policy of “ Make in India Indian Government and the policy of Atmanirbhar Bharat, Israeli companies have joined hands with Indian conglomerates to produce defence equipment in India. Joint ventures have been arranged to come up with aerospace electronics, missile systems and advanced radar systems and it also discussed plans on how to convert civilian aircrafts to multi-mission tanker-transport platforms with aerial refuelling capabilities, extending the range of Indian fighter jets.
The other important aspect of India-Israel cooperation that is critical is the aspect of intelligence sharing and counter-terrorism cooperation. The two states face similar security threats with regard to insurgency, militancy, and asymmetric warfare that has led to the evolution of intimate collaboration in the intelligence collection and internal security policies. There is a Joint Working Group on Counter-terrorism that promotes dialogue and exchange of information. Israeli experience in surveillance systems, border control systems and intelligence gathering has especially been useful to India in enhancing its internal security infrastructures. Deployments of Indian security forces like elite forces such as the National Security Guard have been trained in Israel about counter insurgency, urban warfare and intelligence based security management. In the recent years, collaboration has extended to the area of cybersecurity and technologies based on artificial intelligence and defence, where both parties are trying to protect critical infrastructure and the resilience against the changing digital threats.
The geopolitical convergence of India and Israel has its reflection in the strategic partnership. The country has a good relationship with the United States and is gradually adapting its security policies to the global counter-terrorism frameworks in both states. The India-Israel relations are a subset of the wider multi-alignment foreign policy of India in the Middle East that includes being involved with the states in the Gulf, Iran and Israel all at the same time. Indian officials insist that liaison between India and Israel is made without considering the connection of India with other parties in the region. However, the association has become more pronounced and politically obvious during the Modi government, replacing the previous set of interactions between the two in the paradigm of discreet interaction. Diplomatic visits, defence contracts and speeches highlight the increased strategic significance of this alliance in the global politics.
The changing relationship has also chosen to venture into the field of hybrid warfare especially through cyber war and information warfare. Cyber capabilities, such as hacking, digital surveillance, and manipulation of information, have turned into the tools that states use to control narratives and harm the opponents without having to face them in a military conflict. In this regard, it has been reported that Pakistani media houses have been targeted by hacking attacks to carry out disinformation and create internal unrest. Recent events involve an attack by hackers that has affected the live broadcast of the major Pakistani television channels including Geo News whereby the unauthorized information momentarily showed in the broadcast. Such incidences have been attributed by Pakistani security theorists to high-tech hacking attacks supposedly linked to Indian and Israeli cyber networks thus demonstrating how online warfare has turned out to be a relevant aspect of modern geopolitical enmity.
Another issue that is budding relates to the role that is growing in the use of drones and unmanned systems in the war. The Israeli drones like the Harop and Heron have been integrated into the military systems of India as a surveillance, reconnaissance and precision strike. Such systems were reported to be deployed close to sensitive borders during times when tensions are high in South Asia. Indian military sources have also reported that some of the drones manufactured by Israel and operated by Pakistan have been intercepted and neutralised, which highlights the growing importance of the unmanned technologies in the regional military rivalry. The development of drones has significantly changed the nature of the warfare as it has allowed remote operations, accuracy in targeting and intelligence collection and reduced the risk on human life.
In Pakistani perspective, the growing India-Israel relationship is raising concern over the possibility of a strategic relationship that may not be favorable to the interests of this country. Analysts in Islamabad argue that the handing over of hi-tech Israeli military technologies to India may change the traditional military calculus in the South Asian region. Other concerns are on intelligence cooperation and surveillance technologies that could be used in the disputed areas like Kashmir. There are reports that, in talks between India and Israel, can be of the common threat perceptions in case of Pakistan. Therefore, Pakistan has stepped up scrutiny on the changing relationship and is considering the significance of the relationship on national security and diplomatic policy.
Muhammad Fazeel
Student of International Relations in University of Okara
