Behind the Headlines India’s Future Policy Towards Israel

Informed Indian opinion here forecast a change in the harsh policy carried out towards Israel by the now ousted Indira Ghandi government but added that a shift to a milder attitude will be slow and cautious. The overturn in India’s leadership, it was observed, was based on domestic policies.

Officially, the Indian Embassy pointed out it is premature to discuss the new government’s foreign policy since the new Prime Minister, Morarji Desai, has just been appointed. In Indian diplomatic circles, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency was told, that Desai has been in general accord with India’s foreign policy since the country’s founding in 1947, a year before Israel’s birth.

Desai was closely allied with the “father of India,” Mahatma Ghandi and served 13 years in the Cabinet of Jawaharlal Nehru, Mrs. Ghandi’s father. He also was in her Cabinet as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance until 1969 when he resigned and later went into opposition.

CHANGE WILL BE VERY GRADUAL

Despite its democratic principles, India’s governments have been wary of close cooperation with Israel mainly because of the large Moslem population in India and India’s economic ties with the Moslem world, including the Arab states.

“The new government is not anti-Israeli at all,” an author and journalist said. “The question is how to reverse the policy. Numerous Indians–several thousand–work in Arab countries and India does much business with Arab countries.” Change towards Israel, he predicted, therefore, will be “very gradual.”

Agreeing with this view, an international economist similarly noted that “unfortunately many countries have to please the Arab governments because of commercial connections. Indian policy towards Israel has been cool and aloof since both countries fought their way to freedom from British rule after World War II. The Indian government’s attitude worsened in the latter years of the Indira Ghandi regime.

An example is that although Israel supported India while the Arab states backed Pakistan in the 1971 war, India’s forbidding outlook continued towards Israel while it paradoxically warmed towards Israel’s enemies.

In the 1975-76 period alone, India made two major moves against Israel. The Delhi government voted for the United Nations General Assembly’s infamous anti-Zionist resolution while the tiny states on India’s borders–Nepal and Bhutan–courageously refused to condemn Zionism and abstained.

India also was the leader of the 20-member United Nations committee–16 of which have no relations with Israel–in demanding Israel’s withdrawal by next June 1 from the territories she administers. But the same committee made no mention of the need for the Arabs to recognize Israel’s right to exist nor that two Security Council resolutions provide the Arab states and Israel must settle their differences by direct negotiations between them.

Besides the Moslem factor within India, and India’s foreign trade, a third and important basis for India’s coolness towards Israel is her tie with Yugoslavia and Egypt in Third World politics. Thus, India follows Egypt’s lead in these Middle East matters as does Yugoslavia to keep Arab good will and pragmatic support. Yugoslavia also has a Moslem population of more than 10 percent.

In its curious zig-zag course towards Israel. India voted against partition of Palestine and Israel’s birth in 1948. Two years later, however, India recognized Israel. Although Israel immediately sought exchanges of ambassadors, India barred diplomatic relations for six years. Finally in 1955, India allowed Israel to establish a consulate in Bombay where it has existed since despite three Arab-Israeli wars in which India supported the Arabs. But to this day, India has had no diplomatic mission in Israel.