India’s position on the ongoing Gaza conflict has left many diplomats and policy-makers surprised. New Delhi has always been a strong supporter of the Palestinian cause. In 1974, India was the first non-Arab country to recognise the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) as the sole and legitimate representative of the Palestinian people.

In 1988, India was also one of the first countries to recognise the State of Palestine. But today, there is a sentiment that India has moved closer to Israel and has distanced itself from backing the Palestine cause.

That sentiment is partly true (and also partly untrue). While India has moved closer to Israel, it has also maintained its backing for a two-state solution and hence the Palestine cause. What has changed from 1947 to 2023 is the relationship that India shares with Israel. The change has been reflected in India coming out in support of Israel after the Hamas terrorist attack of October 7.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote on X expressing solidarity with Israel on the terrorist attack carried out by Hamas. Many were taken aback and many more were quick to point out that this seemed a distinct change in India’s foreign policy. As if on cue, a few days later, India’s foreign ministry came out with a statement in which they reiterated India’s commitment to a two-state solution.

But for any astute observer of India’s foreign policy, this shift in stance was something that began in 2017 when Modi visited Israel as PM. It was also the beginning of a new foreign policy, a break from the Nehruvian model. It was also political necessity to create the Modi doctrine. Though India recognised the state of Israel only in 1992, the progress in bilateral ties was always kept out of the public view.

The domestic sentiment in India, post-independence, was anti-colonial and secular in its outlook. But with 2014 and the coming to power of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), public sentiment has changed. Nationalism has become very much a part of domestic and foreign policy today.

What also changed was the rapid growth of bilateral ties between India and Israel, especially in the field of defence and agriculture. Today, India is the largest purchaser of Israeli weapons. It is also important to mention here that during the Kargil conflict of 1999, Israel was one of the few countries that provided India direct military assistance. In that context, it is not hard to understand why India has come out strongly in Israel’s support as the conflict in Gaza rages on.

But then, Indian policy has also always been marked by a sense of caution. The foreign ministry statement, which followed Modi’s post on X, was a course correction of sorts. Another factor that needs to be kept in mind is that in the last decade or so, foreign policy has also found resonance in domestic elections.

India is headed for general elections in 2024 and the ruling party also wants to project this image of a strong, nationalist unit that can take decisive action against elements that threaten the country, read Pakistan. In that context, India has pointed out that the terror attacks by Hamas is an issue that a country like India, which has been the victim of cross border terrorism for decades, can well understand and condemn in the strongest possible terms.

Israel, in a recent development, also designated the Pakistan based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) as a terrorist organisation. Tel Aviv clarified that it had done so without any such request being placed by India. The horrific attacks of Mumbai 26/11 resulted in the killing of 166 people, six among them Jews.

Perhaps the best way to understand the change in stance when it comes to India vis-à-vis Israel and Palestine is also to understand the changes within India over the last few decades. If a post-1947 India was a new democracy that had just got rid of her colonial rulers, the India of today is a country which is impatient and wanting to do away with its post-Independence past in more ways than one.

Israel is a new friend that India finds useful for its economy and security but that does not mean the Palestine cause will be jettisoned. As far as New Delhi is concerned, a nationalist muscular foreign policy embraces new partners while keeping old friends close – and their causes alive.