The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s historic six day trip to India is seen as a culmination of Narendra Modi’s finest diplomacy as his first term begins its final year. It is an astonishing acceleration of the Indian-Israeli bilateral relationship which is only twenty five years old before which India was firmly in the non-aligned movement behind a Palestinian state. Yet this burgeoning cultural, defence and economic relationship with Israel has not come at the expense of either Palestine or the Arab states. Under Modi, India stands as one of the foremost supporters of not just Palestine but also Israel’s arch enemy the Syrian Arab Republic and the Islamic Republic of Iran which is amongst India’s key economic partners. And whilst the headlines in Pakistan are of a conspiratorial India-Israel embrace against Muslims – Narendra Modi has also been bestowed the highest civilian honour by Saudi Arabia – an award never conferred to any Pakistani Prime Minister. This balancing act of being Israel’s strategic defence partner has not stopped India from strengthening its ties not just with the Arab states in the Levant but also the Gulf states of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. So how has Narenda Modi overturned a traditional cautious approach to the Middle East with a proactive all-encompassing embrace of the region?

Post-independence India under the watchful eye of Jawaharlal Nehru had firmly established its credentials as anti-colonial and imperial state which was against British and French aggression in the Suez. Along with the nationalist Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser, Nehru led the anti-Western alliance which also meant firm support for Palestine and an opposition to Israeli territorial plans. This also brought India closer to the newly independent Algeria, pro-Soviet Syria and the Palestinian guerrilla movements based in the Levant. In the decades to come India stood firm in core relationships with the nationalist Arab governments whilst maintaining minimum relations with the pro-American states of Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the newly established GCC states. Until 1992, there were no formal ties with the State of Israel until the then Prime Minister Narasimha Rao reached out set up an embassy in Tel Aviv. Since then in just over two decades India has become the largest importer of Israel’s weapons in the world, a top destination for Israeli tourists especially the conscripts leaving military service and one of Israel’s key economic partners. Indeed the Israeli Prime Minister during his current visit has hailed Modi as a ‘revolutionary leader’ and the public and private ties between the two states are hitting new heights. Preceding Netanyahu’s trip to India, Modi became the first ever Indian Prime Minister to visit Israel and solidified the need to work together in defense, the IT sector which both countries can proudly claim to be world leaders in and also working the growing sector of popular Israeli TV dramas and the global appeal of Bollywood.  Israel’s leading TV export the popular espionage series Hatufim which spawned Homeland has also been adapted for Indian screens – the series producer also said that the Indian version is far closer to the Israeli version than the Western adaption.

Yet remarkably none of the embrace of Israel has come at the cost of the Palestinians. Modi has also announced that he will set off for Ramallah, another historic first, to meet Mahmoud Abbas to reaffirm a historic Indian commitment to Palestine. India also voted against Donald Trump’s announcement of moving the US Embassy to Jerusalem; it has always opposed the Israeli settlements and gives thousands of scholarships to Palestinian students and Indian leaders have also been given honourary doctorates by leading Palestinian universities. It is this careful balancing act by Modi that is catching everyone’s eye in the Middle East. Whilst there is a clear convergence of Indian and Israeli defence interests in the fields of avionics, drones and the Silicon bubble – Israel also understands and respects India’s historic commitment to Palestine – indeed a space could be opening up for Indian mediation and diplomacy  between the two as the Americans have clearly lost their role according to the Palestinian President. A clear sign of India’s influence and alliance with the current Palestinian leadership can be seen in the recent sacking of the Palestinian envoy to Pakistan who appeared in a rally in Islamabad with India’s most wanted man Hafiz Saeed. Despite of Pakistani sponsorship of the UN bill over Jerusalem, and Israeli proximity to India, the Palestinians clearly see India as more important than its arch rival, Pakistan.

Simultaneously, India is funding Iran’s largest infrastructure project in the shape of the Chahbhar port which shall ink Afghanistan to Central Asia and act as an alternative to the Chinese One Belt One Road project. Iran has been one of the main beneficiaries of Indian growth and again this has not come at the expense of any other relationships in the Persian Gulf. Israel for all their enmity of the Iranian leadership has not been able to challenge India’s closeness with Iran. At the same time, Modi has capitalized on the Emirati and Kuwait disgruntlement with Pakistan on their refusal to send its troops to Yemen. Modi became the first foreign leader to address a public gathering of expatriates in the UAE. The UAE Crown Prince was the chief guest on India’s national day and the Emriati forces paraded side by side India’s in a big blow to Pakistan’s claim as the guardian of the Gulf. The UAE even backed Indian military action against Pakistan based militants after the Uri attack. Under Modi India has also signed a historic strategic defence partnership with Saudi Arabia and Qatar has started investment in the Indian economy under Modi’s watch.

Most remarkably Indian support to the Syrian President Bashar al Assad and his government has taken a very public and strategic stance; the foreign, finance and intelligence ministers have all made trips to Syria regularly. India has also made its interest known in Syria’s reconstruction process. This follows on India’s usual policy of not taking part in American-led regime change exercises in the Middle East such as the coup against Mosadeggh, war against Nasser, and the invasion of Iraq. India also won Syria’s support on the Kashmir issue at a critical time when some other Arab countries were looking to support Pakistan on this issue. India also won over Algeria’s support on the Kashmir issue being classified as India’s internal matter rather than an international dispute.

However with the great balancing that Modi has undertaken between the Gulf countries and Iran, Iran and Israel it has also brought great risks. Ayatollah Khamenei for the first in over two decades criticized Indian on its Kashmir stance by stating that the people of Kashmir are oppressed, a stance that backed the Pakistani version of the international issue.  Iran seems to be worried about the increasing closeness of Israel and India and whilst so far there have been no major ruptures in the very important Iran-Indian economic ties, it is clear that Tehran is not too pleased. This can be seen in the very public rebuke of India’s actions in Kashmir. Similarly after two years of very public and behind the scenes backing of the Syrian government, there has been some dismay in Damascus over Modi’s latest alliance with Netanyahu. It can be argued that India under Modi has made some bold moves in the Middle East. They have kept away their previous cautious policies and taken a more aggressive line in seeking to win strategic business and defence ties with everybody without discriminating. However, in the divisive fault lines of the Middle East, the other countries such as Iran and Syria might demand more from Delhi especially given the rivalry between Israel and Syria and its ally Iran. As Modi enters his final year at the back of a huge diplomatic success in the Middle East, he needs to tread carefully not to fracture the great standing he has put India on.