How Counterterrorism Cooperation and Changing Middle East Politics Have Shaped India-Israel Relations, 2000 to 2024

Author

Akashdeep Saxena

Abstract

 India and Israel kept their relations minimal for more than four decades after 1948. Since 2000 the two states have built a wide partnership that covers defence, agriculture, water and technology. This paper examines how counterterrorism cooperation and changing Middle East politics shaped the partnership between 2000 and 2024. It tests the hypothesis that these two factors became the primary drivers of the relationship and often overshadowed historical sensitivities. A qualitative design was used. Official briefs, a SIPRI data set, think tank reports and scholarly books were examined through document analysis and thematic coding within a combined realist, liberal and constructivist framework. The evidence shows that shared exposure to terrorism built trust and that India's policy of keeping the Israel and Palestine relationships separate allowed closer ties without a break with the Arab world. Still, the hypothesis is only partly supported. Defence procurement, technology access and trade also carried the partnership. Trade fell from USD 10.77 billion in 2022-23 to USD 6.53 billion in 2023-24, which shows that regional conflict can limit even a strong partnership. The paper closes with directions for further study.

Keywords

India, Israel, counterterrorism, West Asia, dehyphenation, strategic partnership, foreign policy analysis

Full Text:

Download Paper PDF

References

[1] Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India, “Brief on India-Israel bilateral relations,” New Delhi, India, Jul. 2024. https://www.mea.gov.in/Portal/ForeignRelation/India-Israel-July.pdf

[2] P. R. Kumaraswamy, India's Israel Policy. New York, NY, USA: Columbia Univ. Press, 2010.

[3] N. Blarel, The Evolution of India's Israel Policy: Continuity, Change, and Compromise since 1922. New Delhi, India: Oxford Univ. Press, 2015.

[4] P. D. Wezeman, K. Djokic, M. George, Z. Hussain, and S. T. Wezeman, “Trends in international arms transfers, 2023,” SIPRI Fact Sheet, Stockholm Int. Peace Res. Inst., Stockholm, Sweden, Mar. 2024. https://www.sipri.org/sites/default/files/2024-03/fs_2403_at_2023.pdf 

[5] J. Abadi, “India's national security imperatives and Indo-Israeli strategic cooperation,” Middle East Institute, Washington, DC, USA, Sep. 18, 2014. https://mei.edu/publication/indias-national-security-imperatives-and-indo-israeli-strategic-cooperation/ 

[6] T. Kumar, “India and Israel: Reinforcing the partnership,” ORF Special Rep., no. 7, Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi, India, Dec. 2014. https://www.orfonline.org/research/india-and-israel-reinforcing-the-partnership 

[7] S. S. C. Rajiv, The India-Israel Strategic Partnership: Contours, Opportunities and Challenges. New Delhi, India: Pentagon Press, 2023.

[8] N. Suri and H. Sethi, “30 years of bilateral ties: What Indo-Israeli relations look like,” Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi, India, Sep. 12, 2022. https://www.orfonline.org/expert-speak/30-years-of-bilateral-ties-what-indo-israeli-relations-look-like 

[9] A. Sajjanhar, “India-Israel relations: A burgeoning partnership,” Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi, India, Jan. 25, 2018. https://www.orfonline.org/expert-speak/india-israel-relations-a-burgeoning-partnership 

[10] S. S. C. Rajiv, “The India-Israel defence and security partnership at 30,” MP-IDSA Monograph Ser., no. 75, Manohar Parrikar Inst. Defence Studies Anal., New Delhi, India, Jun. 2022. https://www.idsa.in/system/files/monograph/monograph75.pdf 

[11] R. O. Keohane and J. S. Nye, Jr., “Power and interdependence,” Survival, vol. 15, no. 4, pp. 158–165, 1973, doi: 10.1080/00396337308441409.

[12] A. Wendt, Social Theory of International Politics. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1999.

[13] S. Harnisch, C. Frank, and H. W. Maull, Eds., Role Theory in International Relations. London, U.K.: Routledge, 2011.

[14] J. W. Creswell and J. D. Creswell, Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches, 5th ed. Thousand Oaks, CA, USA: Sage, 2018.

[15] A. Bryman, Social Research Methods, 5th ed. Oxford, U.K.: Oxford Univ. Press, 2016.

[16] “India and Israel joint statement,” Embassy of Israel in India, New Delhi, India, Jul. 5, 2017.

[17] G. A. Bowen, “Document analysis as a qualitative research method,” Qual. Res. J., vol. 9, no. 2, pp. 27–40, 2009.

[18] V. Braun and V. Clarke, “Using thematic analysis in psychology,” Qual. Res. Psychol., vol. 3, no. 2, pp. 77–101, 2008, doi: 10.1191/1478088706qp063oa.

[19] K. Ray, “Ukraine dislodges India as leading arms importer,” Deccan Herald, Mar. 10, 2025. https://www.deccanherald.com/amp/story/india%2Fukraine-dislodges-india-as-leading-arms-importer-3440500 

[20] “India, Israel should look at increasing bilateral trade 10 times: Goyal,” Press Trust of India, Deccan Herald, Feb. 2025. https://www.deccanherald.com/amp/story/india%2Findia-israel-should-look-at-increasing-bilateral-trade-10-times-piyush-goyal-3400898 

Share your valuable work from Social Media Buttons