Condemns violence, but stays non-confrontationist.
By Sereen Thahir
WASHINGTON, DC: The ongoing set of peace negotiations between and Israel and Palestine and the interim military government in Egypt following the ousting of former President Mohammad Morsi has launched the region into tumult once again. India cautiously awaits the results of the peace talks and has condemned the violence yet has stayed out the Egyptian situation as most other foreign powers have.
The Israel-Palestine preliminary talks began here at the end of July and resumed in Jerusalem on August 14th. They have been held ‘in secret’ as to not be swayed by public emotion. Critics as well as both sides of the talks have low expectations for the results.
According to Professor John Lockman of the University of Southern California, in an interview with Al-Jazeera, the United States seeks a much more limited goal of carving out borders for the Palestinian state. Though Israel has not publicly stated so, it is believed that the 1967 borders will be the basis for the talks based on the word of Secretary of State John Kerry.
Prior to the talks in Jerusalem, Israel has freed 12 Palestinian prisoners. Some of these prisoners have been held for decades and a few have been charged with murder for attacks on Israeli citizens. Despite protest, the Israeli government continued with the release, which gives Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas public support from his people as he continues with the talks.
India has yet to cast an official stance on the ongoing talks, but has managed to strike a careful balance between the two sides. However, this was not always the case. From the creation of the state of Israel in 1948 until 1992, the two nations did not share relations as a result of the non-alignment bloc versus the remnants of the imperial bloc of countries.
India was the first non-Arab state to recognize the Palestinian Liberation Organization in 1976. The change was brought on by India’s new political and economic vision and negotiations with the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank following the end of the Cold War. India and Israel have gradually increased their economic ties primarily through arms deals. Today, half of all Israeli arms produced are purchased by India. The bilateral military trade reached $9 billion and is projected to reach approximately $15 billion in coming years.
There has been a slight difference in the ways the various political parties in India have dealt with the Israeli arms shipments. Though most are supportive of the arms shipments as a whole, the reasons why vary. Only the Communist party is against the actual nature of the shipments.
According to Vijay Prashad’s “India’s Israel Policy” published in the Al-Jazeera Center for Studies, the BJP sees a ‘civilizational tie’ with the Israeli state in their view of a common enemy: Islamist extremist. In his piece, he writes that the BJP discovered that the “Israelis had found a magical solution to their own neighborhood… that could be emulated in South Asia and India”. During the years that the BJP led coalition was in power, there is evidence that Israel did support the Indian side during the 1999 Kargil War with Pakistan.
Currently, India stands at a delicate balance between the two countries. The Ministry of External Affairs claims that it has been consistent with its unwavering support for Palestine and has called for an end to illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories.
According to Ronak Desai writing for The Diplomat, “New Delhi recognizes the domestic importance of maintaining those bonds and calculates that its unwavering support for the Palestinians allows it to burnish India’s secular credentials abroad and retain influence and credibility in the Arab world”, accomplishing two of its foreign policy objectives in the region.
At the same time, India has fallen to international pressure at times regarding Israel. When the Goldstone Report was presented to the United Nations in 2009, it found that Israel’s blockade of Gaza was illegal, criticized Israel’s targeting of civilians, and found other violations of international law. India was initially to support the findings of the report, but upon pressure from the United States, voted to shelve, said the report.
The Egypt Dilemma
The situation in Egypt has spread and grown even more violent in recent days. Over 800 people have been killed in Cairo and the violence has recently spread to the Sinai Peninsula. There are approximately 700 Muslim Brotherhood supporters taking shelter in the Al-Fath mosque in Cairo. The military government has started to attack the houses of supporters as the United States mulls over cutting its aid to Egypt.
India and Egypt share a trade relationship since 1978 that amounts to nearly $2.5 billion worth of Indian investment on Egyptian soil. Between 2011 and 2012, trade increased by 33% between the two countries. Despite the turmoil that exists in the nation, it may do India well to stay out of the conflict to not risk its investments due to siding with one group over another.
India is continuing its policy of condemning violence, but not intervening in these particular conflicts. Given the fact that very few other foreign powers have done so, it seems as though the rest of the world is looking to see how the situation plays out before taking sides.
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