Hotline to Jerusalem

The telephonic exchange between Narendra Modi and Benjamin Netanyahu earlier this month reveals the changing architecture of India’s Middle Eastern strategy.

The telephone exchange between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu at the start of the New Year was the latest signal of a strategic alignment three decades in the making.

It came as Israel struggles to turn a fragile Gaza ceasefire into something more durable, and as India steadily increases its diplomatic footprint in the Middle East. Netanyahu briefed Modi on Israel’s plans for stabilising Gaza and pushing for a longer-term settlement. Modi, in turn, reiterated India’s commitment to peace, stability and the fight against terrorism. The message amid the diplomatic language was unmistakable: New Delhi and Jerusalem now see one another as essential partners in a volatile region.

Changing Positions

But this has not always been the case. For decades after independence India kept Israel at arm’s length. Jawaharlal Nehru and his successors saw support for the Palestinian cause as part of India’s moral leadership of the post-colonial world. Full diplomatic relations were delayed until 1992, when the Cold War ended and the Middle East peace process briefly seemed promising. Only then did pragmatism begin to overtake ideology.

Once that door opened, the relationship grew quickly. Israel emerged as one of India’s most important suppliers of advanced military equipment, including drones, missile-defence systems and electronic warfare technology. During the Kargil conflict of 1999, Israeli surveillance and precision munitions quietly helped India blunt Pakistan’s advances, forging trust that would deepen over the next two decades. Indian agriculture benefited from Israeli expertise in water management and drip irrigation. Universities and start-ups forged links in artificial intelligence, biotechnology and cyber-security. What began as a discreet defence partnership gradually became a broad economic and technological embrace.

Narendra Modi accelerated this shift after 2014. His 2017 visit to Israel, the first by an Indian prime minister, was a symbolic break from decades of diplomatic caution. He embraced Israel as a model of innovation and resilience, a small country that had turned insecurity into technological strength. Netanyahu, for his part, saw India as a rising power whose size and democratic character made it a natural long-term ally.

The deepest bond between the two, however, lies in their experience of terrorism. Both countries have endured attacks on civilians carried out by militant groups backed by hostile neighbours. Both have concluded that lofty declarations are meaningless without hard intelligence, robust security and a willingness to strike back. Cooperation in counter-terrorism, ranging from intelligence-sharing to cyber-surveillance, has become the backbone of their relationship. The pledge of ‘zero tolerance’ to terrorism is a statement of shared doctrine between the two nations who have each faced the brunt of terrorism.

Broader Shift

This convergence also reflects a broader geopolitical shift. As America’s focus drifts and the Middle East fragments into rival camps, middle powers such as India are carving out their own networks of influence. The old era of rigid blocs is giving way to transactional partnerships built on security, technology and energy. By strengthening ties with Israel while maintaining working relationships with Arab states and Iran, India is trying to position itself as a pragmatic, multi-aligned player. It buys energy from the Gulf, invests in Iranian ports and yet works closely with Israel on security and technology.

Still, India’s challenge is to translate its warm ties with Israel into real leverage over regional crises, from Gaza to the Red Sea. That will depend less on the frequency of calls than on India’s willingness to commit diplomatic capital and, when necessary, take sides.

And yet, the telephonic exchange was a reminder of how far the relationship has travelled. Three decades ago, India and Israel were little more than cautious acquaintances. Today their leaders speak easily about strategy, security and the future of a turbulent region. In a Middle East being reordered by conflict and great-power retreat, the line between New Delhi and Jerusalem is fast becoming a conduit of strategy. How often it rings may matter less than what it now represents, which is India’s arrival as a consequential player on Asia’s western frontier.

(The writer is a foreign affairs expert. Views personal.)