About two weeks ago, India proved that it is continuing to create closer ties with Israel by voting against a proposal to promote the Lebanese organization Shahed to observer status in the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). The proposal to upgrade Shahed was blocked due to Israeli diplomatic efforts after the group's ties to Hamas were exposed by defense and security officials in Israel. Although the reports in India about the vote described it as "unusual," the change began back during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's first term in office.
Until a few years ago, the UN was for the Indians a foreign arena that allowed its leaders to be an international force based on its moral power. As part of that approach, Israel came in for criticism and condemnations by the Indian government. India's meteoric economic growth since the 1990s prompted its leaders to reexamine its "map of interests." In 1992, it opened official diplomatic relations with Israel, although Indian policy remained mainly pro-Palestinian, especially in the UN.
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The first major change in New Delhi's policy came in 2015, when India decided to abstain from a vote to condemn Israeli actions in the Gaza Strip. India was asked to balance that unusual move when it supported the establishment of a special commission to examine Israeli actions in Gaza. Nevertheless, warming relations led to a kind of euphoria in Israel. But the expectations came crashing down when India voted to condemn US President Donald Trump's declaration recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Jerusalem, which holds a special place in Islamic sentiment, is apparently a volatile issue that New Delhi is still not ready to take lightly.
The growing nationalist trends in India led to principled and global ideals that are being replaced by the sanctity of the borders of a sovereign state and an emphasis on the willingness to defend them. As a result, the war on terror became a major issue in launching cooperative ties between India and key national players, especially on the Israel-US-Saudi Arabian axis. The rise of the Indian Right under Modi threw off old habits, first and foremost the prevailing equation that ties with Israel were the equivalent to wrecking India's relations with the Muslim world.
Since he was first elected prime minister in 2014, Modi took the opposite tack. That entailed bringing Indian-Israeli relations out of the diplomatic closet, and the new development reached its height when Modi made his historic visit to Israel in July 2017. During his years in power, Modi has maneuvered this delicate balance expertly and managed to strengthen India's vital interests. The best example of the isolationist policy is India's historic participation at a conference of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation that was held in Abu Dhabi in March. He has managed all this, while still bolstering security and diplomatic ties with Israel.
There is no doubt that India is committed to its own pressing interests before everything else. The country is dealing with terrorist attacks, and Modi's victory comes because he successfully positioned himself as "Mr. Security." After his government failed to live up to all of its economic promises, it will need to prove itself through renewed peace talks with Pakistan and by successfully fighting terrorism. The vote against the Lebanese organization in ECOSOC was designed to bolster the Indian public's faith in its government's determination to battle terrorism, but also reflects closer Indian-Israeli ties and the policy reversal that Modi is spearheading.
