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India Resumes Its
Ties With Israel

MITCHELL G. BARD

Special to The Jewish News

0

ne of the favorable
developments that
has accompanied the
rapid international changes
has been the acceptance of
Israel into the family of na-
tions. One nation that lagged
behind was India. By agree-
ing to upgrade relations to
the ambassadorial level, In-
dia has ended a long, un-
necessary period of strain
with Israel.
By casting its vote at the
UN to repeal the odious
resolution slandering
Zionism, India took an impor-
tant step forward that had not
been expected. As late as
November 1991, India's Ex-
ternal Affairs Minister was
quoted as saying am-
bassadors could not be ex-
changed until "genuine pro-
gress" was reached in the
Middle East peace talks. By
this he meant Israel had
withdrawn from the ter-
ritories and allowed the crea-
tion of a Palestinian state.
This position was immediate-
ly criticized by the Indian
Statesman newspaper, which
called it a "mindless pro-
nouncement."
That same month, a delega-
tion of the World Jewish Con-
gress met Prime Minister P.V.
Narashimha Rao and asked
him to upgrade Israel's con-
sular office in Bombay into an
embassy.
That
office,
established in the 1950s to
help Indian Jews emigrate, is
Israel's only diplomatic post
in India. Today, approximate-
ly 35,000 Indian Jews live in
Israel and about 6,000 Jews
remain in India.
Interestingly, India is one of
the few countries where anti-
Semitism has been non-
existent. Israelis were
discouraged from visiting In-
dia last July, however, when
a group of tourists were kid-
napped by Muslim terrorists
in Srinagar, Kashmir. One
22-year-old Israeli was killed.
The Indian government
cooperated with Israel in
working to gain the release of
the other Israelis, but the
lack of diplomatic representa-
tion made securing the
tourists' freedom more
difficult.
The Indian government
snubbed Israel on numerous
occasions at the expense of
musicians and athletes. For

Dr. Mitchell Bard is a foreign.
policy analyst in. Washington,
D.C.

example, three prominent In-'
dian musicians cancelled ap-
pearances at the World Music,
Festival in 1990 because theY1
were told not to travel to
Israel. That same year, fovr,
Israeli tennis players were
denied visas to participate in
the Indian Satellite Circuit
after their entry fees had
been accepted. In 1988, IndiLt-
also excluded Israel from the'
World Table Tennis Charp,-
pionships in New Delhi.
Prior to its vote for repeal of
the libel against Zionism, In-
dia had been one of the most
vigorous supporters of thc„)
Arab cause at the United Na-(
tions. As is the case for many j
African nations that followeb.)
the Arab lead, it is unclear
what India received in return
for such fealty. In the African

India has ended a
long, unnecessary
period of strain
with Israel.

case, those countries learned
the Arab states were un-
prepared to provide financial
aid and, instead, contribute'.:1-:,
to the ruination of their
economies by their oil pricing
policies. Anyone with a
knowledge of how Indian
laborers are treated in the''
Gulf, particularly since the
war, have a sense of Arab
gratitude.

The former Soviet Union
and most European nations
have not diminished their,f
support for the Palestinians
and yet they maintain full 1
diplomatic relations. While:,'
Israel would obviously prefer
India to sympathize with its
plight, this was not a prere-
quisite to normalization.
c_;
India has much to gain by
improving ties with Israel. It
could benefit from direct,
trade, cultural and academic
exchanges and sharing the
lessons of coping with
massive influxes of refugees
that strain the nation's ab-
sorptive capacity.
Israel has for decades con-
tributed its expertise in -
various areas such as
agriculture and high-
technology to the benefit of
nations in Africa, but has c7
been kept out of India. In fact,
India abides by • the Arab
boycott of Israel and hag'
therefore forfeited the oppor-
tunity to trade with the
Jewish State. The extent of
private trade is estimated to
be approximately $200