Indian foreign policy makers are facing a tough test while dealing with the impact of the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas Movement. Some believe that India should have taken a clearer stand against Israel’s brutal invasion and blockade of Gaza, while others are of the opinion that the Narendra Modi Administration in New Delhi has made an attempt to balance its response with the demands of appropriate diplomacy after considering the current regional geopolitical landscape in West Asia. Emotion is dominant in the first view, while practicality in the second. In fact, pragmatism is the most important aspect of diplomacy.

Meanwhile, a new dimension was added to India’s foreign policy on October 27, 2023 when a resolution, titled the Protection of civilians and upholding legal and humanitarian obligations (proposed by Jordan on behalf of the Arab League and co-sponsored by about 40 countries), was passed in the UN General Assembly on October 27, with 120 votes in favour, 14, including the US and the UK, against, and 45 abstentions, including India. As expected, the South Asian nation is facing criticism for its abstention.

The Indian National Congress (INC) and other Opposition parties have said that an immediate end to Israel’s destructive operation in Gaza is the minimum condition for humanity. According to the parties in Opposition, the UN proposal has sought to fulfil that condition, as protecting the innocent civilians and sending relief materials are natural humanitarian actions. Hence, India has made a mistake by not supporting the proposal. They have further claimed that India’s inaction should not be considered as neutrality, but an attempt to back Israel’s atrocities in the Gaza Strip.

Meanwhile, the Government of India has defended its decision to abstain in the UN General Assembly vote on the resolution that called for a humanitarian truce and ceasefire in Gaza, stating that it did not include “explicit condemnation” of the October 7 terror attacks in Israel. In a note circulated by New Delhi, the Government said that since India’s concerns over omissions had not been covered by the final text of the resolution, it had decided to abstain. A source close to the Indian Ministry of External Affairs stressed: “There can be no equivocation on terror.” The source also called India’s position “steadfast and consistent”.

India has argued that the omission of the word Hamas is practically encouraging terrorist activities. In other words, the proposal was biased towards a particular type of terrorism. India abstained from the voting because it decided not to be complicit in this unfair biasness. The Indian Ministry of External Affairs has made it clear that the act of terrorism should not be judged on the basis of race or religion. It may be noted that Canada wanted to include condemnation of Hamas attacks on Israel to the UN resolution. However, the amendment of the text did not receive the required majority as a number of countries tried to cover the Palestinian Movement. Hence, India’s objection to such a biasness is quite reasonable. Of course, India might have followed France’s position. France voted in favour of the proposal in spite of criticising the biasness.

India is well aware of the fact that it would have to walk along a thin rope, as far as the Palestine issue is concerned. It may be noted that the Modi Administration reshaped India’s foreign policy after the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine War on February 24, 2022. India, ignoring pressure from the Western Powers, has maintained normal ties with Russia. Even the West has admitted that India has been maintaining a wonderful diplomatic balance while dealing with both Russia and Ukraine. As the Palestine issue is much more complicated, the driving force of diplomacy should be national interest in this case.

India has always remained neutral in all controversies in West Asia. In no case, New Delhi has made official comments in favour of a particular side. Initially, India did not support the creation of Israel by breaking up Palestine. Mohandas Karamchand ‘Mahatma’ Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India, had opposed partition of Palestine on the basis of religion. Gandhi and Nehru thought that supporting the Jewish State would alienate India from the Arab nations. As a large number of Muslims live in India, they did not want to cheat them either. At the same time, the Indian leaders were also sympathetic to the Jews of Palestine. The Jewish State of Israel was created on May 14, 1948, and India had taken three years to recognise the sovereignty of Israel (in 1950). However, New Delhi has always maintained a safe distance in the disputes between Israel and the Arab World (including Palestine). Interestingly, the current conflict between Israel and Hamas has somewhat shaken India’s long-standing diplomatic position.

Soon after Hamas fired more than 5,000 rockets toward Israel from the Gaza Strip on October 7 (triggering the ongoing war), Indian Prime Minister Modi condemned the terror attacks. On X (formerly known as Twitter), the Indian PM wrote: “Deeply shocked by the news of terrorist attacks in Israel. Our thoughts and prayers are with the innocent victims and their families. We stand in solidarity with Israel at this difficult hour.” Modi’s comments prompted many to think that India might be changing its traditional position regarding West Asia, and would cooperate with Israel, a close ally of the US.

Only five days later, India released its first detailed official statement on its position on the Gaza conflict. Spokesperson of the Indian Ministry of External Affairs Arindam Bagchi stressed on October 12 that New Delhi has always been consistent on the Palestine question. He clarified: “Our policy in this regard has been long-standing and consistent… India has always advocated the resumption of direct negotiations towards establishing a sovereign, independent and viable State of Palestine living within secure and recognised borders, side by side at peace with Israel. That position remains the same.“

India has also sent relief materials to the war-torn Gaza. After talking to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas over phone, Prime Minister Modi sent an aircraft to Gaza with 38 tonnes of relief materials. It becomes clear from PM Modi’s gesture that India does not want to take sides with either Israel or Hamas in the current situation.

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das