Samuel C. Rajiv from IDSA emphasised that bilateral relations between India and Israel hinge on three pegs – economic, defence and people to people contacts. India is Israel’s 10th largest trading partner. After the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries in 1992, civilian bilateral trade has grown to about $5 billion per year. With the proposed Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in the pipeline, this is expected to more than double in the near future. In addition, the cooperation between the two countries in the defence sector is expected to continue to be robust. During 2002–07, India bought $5 bn worth of defence equipment from Israel, whose investments in India have grown to $3 bn. Total defence trade between the two countries is worth more than $ 9 bn. Moreover, there is further possibility for high-tech cooperation such as in space technology and agriculture. Foreign policy concerns for the two countries are dominated by third party issues such as Iran and the Palestinian issue. The fact these issues affect both nations reveals an affinity of interests of both sides. Speaker concluded that high level political and strategic engagement is essential to further consolidate India-Israel relations. It was noted that tourism is also a growing aspect of bilateral relationship. Last year, nearly 40,000 Indians visited Israel. India has been a favourite tourist destination, especially for Israeli youth. In 2010, nearly 50,000 Israeli tourists had come to India.
Highlighting the Israeli perspective, Efraim Inbar, Director BESA expressed his delight that India-Israel relations are conforming to the realpolitik equation in international relations, and that self-interest is still important to India. It was pointed out that economic relations should best be left to the business communities on both the sides. There is a lot of complementarity between both nations’ economic interests. It was pointed out that both sides have faced challenges in the defence sector but this has been an issue on which cooperation has been robust. However, one area that needs attention is coproduction in order to produce cheaper products and to reduce dependency on third actors. Military exercises should be incorporated into defence cooperation since Israel has a growing interest in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR).
In the area of academics, one issue constraining better relations between Indian and Israeli academics is money. Business communities in both countries should be mobilised to support these types of exchanges. Speaking on the Palestinian issue it was noted that there is deterioration in Indian position on this issue. It was pointed out that for Israel the Palestinian issue is secondary and not the main issue. Israel may look with some consternation on India supporting the Palestinians in adopting a unilateral approach. However India may want to act in the UN, Israel has made it clear that they see the UN as a “morally bankrupt institution”. Deliberating on the question of Jerusalem, it was pointed out by the speaker that India should fully understand Israeli sensitivities on this issue when supporting a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital. Israel sees Jerusalem as the eternal capital of Israel. Also important is the religious significance the city holds for both Jews and Muslims. This is not a minor issue for Israel; hence, India should be aware of the reaction they will receive from the Israelis on this question.
It was suggested that an Asian alliance comprising India, Israel, South Korea, Japan and Australia could work together to deal with issues including missile defence and piracy. At the global level, the differences in outlook of both nations are evident. India seems more in favour of a multi-polar world while Israel prefers a uni-polar one. But both nations do not want to see a weakened US. In this context it was felt that greater cooperation should be undertaken between Israel and India on Capitol Hill to support lobby groups and educate Americans on issues of concern to both nations.
During the deliberation on the theme of India-Israel bilateral ties it was noted by speakers from both the side that relations between the two countries have been increasing in political, economic and defence sectors. It was pointed out that there are vibrant people-to-people interactions, strategic dialogues between the security forces and strategic establishments, among other on-going exchanges between the two countries. Cooperation in science and technology, agriculture, space cooperation among other sectors is also vibrant.