From the Nehruvian national consensus on Palestine to abstaining on a resolution — the only country in South Asia — in the United Nations for a humanitarian truce in the “expanded” ground invasion in Gaza, India’s foreign policy shift is remarkable. The rapprochement between India and Israel is not new. Ever since 1992, India’s strategic and formal diplomatic relations with Israel have increased. But it was under Prime Minister Modi that, from being a hesitant friend, it became a closer partner of Israel. Bilateral relations, trade ties, technological assistance, military procurement and counter-terrorism cooperation seem to have acquired political and ideological facets.
Affinities between Hindu nationalism and Zionism are rooted in the long history of Hindutva’s admiration of Zionist ethno-nationalism, possibly because both have found a common enemy in their country’s largest religious minority. Hindu nationalists held a fascination with Jews and Zionism from day one as V D Savarkar expressed deep sympathy for a more comprehensive understanding of the Jewish race and underlined its appropriateness for the Hindutva ideology. He was not only inspired by Zionism and praised illegal colonial settlement but strongly believed that Hindus and Jews shared a history of oppression at the hands of Muslims and both deserved redress.
This story was originally published in indianexpress.com. Read the full story here .