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April 2, 2004
Big India, little Israel
Commercial trade between the two is $1.5 billion.
CARL ALPERT SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH BULLETIN
With more than a billion people, India is second only to China
as the country with the biggest population in the world. Israel,
by contrast, with its population of something over six million,
is the 100th smallest country in the world. If viewed together,
the two make an odd pair. Yet, as Prof. Efraim Inbar of the Begin-Sadat
Centre for Strategic Studies at Bar-Ilan University points out in
a recent publication, they enjoy an unusual relationship.
Both countries are modern expressions of an ancient civilization,
and both went through a British colonial past, emerging as independent
states. India enjoys a one-year seniority, having been launched
in 1947. Israel followed a year later. Destiny has brought them
into a closer relationship these days.
We learn more from the Inbar pamphlet, which is appropriately entitled
"The India-Israel Entente."
While India recognized Israel in 1950, the relations were cool and
were marked by little more than a consulate in Bombay. For one thing,
in Asia, Israel was looked upon as a pariah. Further, the Indian
government had no wish to upset its large Muslim minority. It was
not until January 1992 that full relations were established, and
in 1996 Israel's president, Ezer Weizman, paid a warm visit to India.
Much had happened in the intervening years. The hostility of and
threats from neighboring Pakistan had transformed the Muslim world
into an open foe of India. Border clashes and terrorist acts invited
a comparison with Israel's problems, and security authorities of
both countries compared notes. Commercial bilateral trade between
the two lands, to the profit of both sides, began to develop and,
by 2002, had reached a total of $1.5 billion. Joint industrial and
agricultural projects were undertaken. Cultural contacts grew. Direct
airline connections were established.
On the human level, mysterious India constituted an attraction to
tens of thousands of Israeli youth who, after completion of their
military service, sought a respite before assuming their roles in
civilian life. The positive, even glowing reports from the Israeli
backpackers attracted succeeding generations. The Indian people
were welcoming. The atmosphere was exotic. The language was English.
And best of all, living costs for visitors were minimal. The two
nations drifted into a friendly relationship.
Because of the open threats from its Muslim neighbor, India felt
the need to develop its defensive capacity, to combat terrorism
and assure border security. This led to its purchase of appropriate
weapons and the acquisition of military technology in various forms.
To begin, the Soviet Union was the source of such supplies, but
with the collapse in Moscow, India sought additional sources. Today,
Israel is India's second largest defence supplier, after Russia,
with France in third place. This new market, embracing tanks, communications,
patrol boats, artillery, pilotless planes, radar systems and an
additional wide variety of military operations, has proven a boon
to Israel's weapons industries. In 2002, the Indian minister of
defence openly admitted that Israel had become one of his country's
major sources of armaments.
In September 2003, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon paid a high-profile
visit to India, the first by an Israeli premier, setting the stage
for what was to follow.
The relationship reached a climax early in March of this year with
the signing of an agreement whereby India is to purchase from Israel
three special AWACS (airborne warning and control system) planes,
known as Phalcons, for $1.1 billion. This is the largest single
arms sale ever achieved by Israel. It is the same kind of equipment
that Israel had contracted to sell to China four years ago. In that
case, the United States intervened and demanded that the deal be
cancelled. Israel had no choice but to back out, and was compelled
to pay China a large sum by way of compensation. In the case of
India, America had no objection.
More and more the two countries are finding common interests, despite
the difference in their sizes. Inbar notes that "mutual fear
of radical Islam, both at home and in their immediate neighborhoods,
has cemented Indo-Israel ties."
Carl Alpert is a freelance writer living in Haifa.
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