Hello, and welcome back to This Is India.
For this week’s newsletter, I’m looking at India’s evolving relationship with Israel, and how it has deepened as conflict swept across the Middle East. Why is it that India has formed an even closer bond with a country that has faced mounting international isolation and backlash over a military campaign in Gaza that has left the territory in ruins and killed more than ۷۰,۰۰۰ Palestinians, – many of whom were children?
Under Narendra Modi, India’s ties with Israel have taken on a different character, for a country that once championed the Palestinian cause and led the Non-Aligned Movement. To better understand it, I turned to Stanly Johny, Indian foreign policy expert and the international affairs editor at the Hindu. He told me it isn’t just a political or diplomatic shift, “it’s also at the strategic and defence level”.
The evolution of India’s role was revealed in a recent Amnesty International investigation, which showed that India was now a key part of Israel’s weapons supply chain. This represents a fundamental change. For years, New Delhi had primarily been a major customer of Israeli weapons. But, through joint ventures and manufacturing partnerships, it is now a “significant contributor” to Israel’s weapons production, according to Amnesty, which offers the most extensive account so far of the scale of India’s involvement since the war in Gaza began.
Indian companies, including state-owned enterprises, have delivered drone warheads, artillery shell casings, small arms parts and military vehicle components to Israeli military suppliers despite the substantial risk these could end up in weapons deployed in Gaza, it added.
By examining publicly available shipment-level trade data, Amnesty said it traced hundreds of thousands of weapons components shipped from Indian factories to Israeli military suppliers between ۷ October ۲۰۲۳ and ۳۰ November ۲۰۲۵, including:
۳۹۰,۵۱۶ small arms parts for military grade weapons
۵۶۴,۹۷۰ parts of explosive ordnance
۲۹۸ components of military vehicles
Many western nations, including Britain, have restricted or banned arms supply to Israel over its conduct in the war, citing risks that the weapons could be used to commit or facilitate violations of international humanitarian law. (The United States accounts for the overwhelming share of major arms transfers to Israel.)
An independent United Nations commission of inquiry concluded in September that Israel had committed genocide in Gaza, and earlier this year another commission found that Israel is continuing to commit genocide by deliberately targeting Palestinian children. Separately, the international criminal court has issued an arrest warrant for the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, accusing him of committing war crimes.
Yet, the Amnesty report hasn’t resulted in any large-scale public debate or political backlash in India, despite some scattered media coverage. Johny believes this is a result of the support for Israel by Modi’s voter base. “There is a clear ideological confluence between Hindutva and Zionism,” he said. In rightwing circles in India and elsewhere, he argues, Israel is increasingly seen as a bulwark against the expansion of Islam.
Hindu nationalists have long admired Israel, viewing it as a model of a nationalist state that can assert itself in a volatile neighbourhood. Author Pankaj Mishra chronicled this affinity in a ۲۰۱۷ essay, writing that his grandfather was among high-caste Hindus who saw Israel as an example of how to deal with Muslims “in the only language they understood: that of force and more force”.
The war on Gaza doesn’t appear to have significantly shifted views. A Pew Research survey published in June found that more Indians view Israel favourably (۳۲%) than unfavourably (۲۸%). This is in contrast to the decline of support for Israel in many western countries, including the United States, since the war.
Modi, for his part, has cultivated a personal rapport with Netanyahu. In ۲۰۱۷, he became the first Indian prime minister to visit Israel, and Modi’s visit to Israel earlier this year came just ۴۸ hours before Israel and the United States launched their attacks on Iran. The optics of Modi hugging Netanyahu on the tarmac, coupled with New Delhi’s noticeably muted response at the outbreak of war, were a clear sign of where India’s political establishment stands. It has not gone unnoticed. In July, after the US vice-president, JD Vance, rebuked Netanyahu by calling the US Israel’s “only powerful ally” left in the world, Netanyahu shot back: “We have some other friends, like a small country called India. It has ۱.۴bn people, and boy, do we have tremendous support there.”
The government has previously declined to give a direct answer about weapons supplies to Israel. When asked in parliament in ۲۰۲۴, external affairs minister S Jaishankar said that information is not in public domain and that exports of military products are guided by “national interest”. Amnesty identified three state-owned Indian companies – Munitions India Limited, India Optel Limited and Advanced Weapons and Equipment India Limited – supplying Israel with weapons, which it said, could expose India to the hazard of “complicity in ongoing genocide in Gaza”. Foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal responded that India’s exports are governed by national laws and international obligations.
The pushback has largely come from human rights activists, student bodies, trade unions, India’s left-leaning parties and the Congress party. The courts have offered no recourse, either. In ۲۰۲۴, a group of civil servants, activists and academics petitioned the supreme court, demanding India suspend its military exports to Israel. The court dismissed the case, ruling that the matter fell within the discretion of the executive.
“In India, you don’t see any anger towards the government for its relationship with Israel, despite the allegations the Israeli government is facing,” Johny said. This, he believes, is a sign that foreign policy debates in India are being stripped of moral concern.
Weapons aren’t the only thing India has sent to Israel during this period. Thousands of Indian workers have also gone to Israel, in many instances to replace Palestinians barred from entering the country after ۷ October ۲۰۲۳. Last year, the government told parliament that more than ۲۰,۰۰۰ Indian workers, in construction work and caregiving, had moved to Israel after an agreement signed in November ۲۰۲۳.
India, meanwhile, has shored up its own arms supplies from Israel. Between ۲۰۲۱ and ۲۰۲۵, New Delhi was Israel’s largest defence customer, accounting for ۲۹% of total arms sales, according to Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
But for Johny, India’s growing closeness to Israel is beginning to come at a cost. The war in Iran threatens India’s energy security and could have wider economic repercussions across the Gulf, home to a large Indian diaspora. “India has to continue to stay engaged with Israel, but it is important to restore balance to its approach to west Asia,” he said, adding that it needs to forcefully defend its own interests.
What else we’re reading about
Assam floods | Floods in the north-eastern state of Assam have killed ۱۰۰ people and displaced tens of thousands of people. Three districts in particular – Sivasagar, Charaideo and Jorhat – have been hit hard. Deforestation and excavation, along with extreme rainfall induced by climate change, could be responsible for the unprecedented flooding, the Indian Express reported.
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Student anger | After demonstrations over examination paper leaks rocked the central government, fresh protests have broken out in Jharkhand over alleged irregularities in state recruitment exams. Students marching to the State Assembly were met with tear gas, water cannons and baton charges. The state government agreed to scrap three exams, which will be held afresh.
Skims debut | Kim Kardashian’s shapewear brand, Skims, is coming to India in partnership with Reliance Brands. It will open stores in Delhi and Mumbai. Founded in ۲۰۱۹, Skims raised $۲۲۵m in capital last year, valuing the company at $۵bn.
Vibe check
Mumbai’s monsoon has been the backdrop of many Bollywood romances. But failing infrastructure means that life in the metro can become a logistical nightmare and a health hazard. The Mumbai-based photographer Yash Sheth (@yashsheth۳) focuses his lens on this tumult with striking images that capture the rawness of the moment. And somewhere in between lies the magic of the rains. See more images from the monsoon series on his Instagram page.
Guest shelf
A recommendation from someone with great taste
Ankur Tewari (@ankurtewari), singer and songwriter
I’m tripping on the song Funk You, Pay Me, by Dhanji and Karan Kanchan, with a sample by RD Burman. The groove is super infectious and slaps, and Dhanji’s flow and the grain in his voice makes you want to move your body. These ۶۴ bars can make your day. (Ankur’s new album, Mr Faarigh, is out on ۲۰ August.)
Count it
A number worth knowing
£۵۳۰m
The Yogi Adityanath-led state government in Uttar Pradesh has spent approximately £۵۳۰m (Rs. ۶۸۰۰ crore) on advertisements and publicity since it came to power eight years ago, according to an analysis by Newslaundry. That’s more than the central government’s ad spend, which has been in power longer, the report said.
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