Passing The Watermelon: Questions Over Timing Of Modi's Israel Visit

The optics were unmistakable. As Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s special Air India flight touched down on Israeli soil, his counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu was waiting to greet him. His wife, Sara, who accompanied Netanyahu, was appropriately dressed in a saffron suit that matched the saffron pocket square that Modi wore. To make sure that the point was not missed, her husband pointed to the matching colours. The personal chemistry was laid out for all to see with Netanyahu later saying in his welcome address to lawmakers at the Knesset that he was “not just my friend but my brother”.

It is evident that Modi’s second visit to Israel goes much beyond a routine diplomatic trip and is a political and strategic embrace. Modi was the first Indian prime minister to visit Israel in 2017. His trip now is a reaffirmation of a partnership that has grown warmer and more unapologetic with each passing year. The carefully curated images of camaraderie, of handclasps and shared podiums, tell a story of two leaders bound by ideology, security concerns and a shared distrust of political Islam.

But beyond the choreography lies a more complicated narrative. The Indian Prime Minister’s visit comes at a time when the Global South and much of the Western world, especially the youth, have condemned Israel. More than 75,000 Palestinians dead, entire cities reduced to rubble, and even after a ceasefire ostensibly took hold, hundreds more have died in continued strikes that Israel says targeted Hamas militants. Settlement expansion in the West Bank proceeds unabated. The charges against Israel are serious. The International Criminal Court has indicted Israel for war crimes and issued an arrest warrant against Netanyahu. The case was filed by South Africa, a country with a history of fighting apartheid. A UN-established Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel reported that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.

Against this backdrop, Modi’s presence in Israel is being read not just as a bilateral engagement, but as an endorsement of Israeli action in Gaza and the West Bank. Many have questioned the timing of the Prime Minister’s visit to Israel.

“The visit was a personal favour to Prime Minister Netanyahu from Prime Minister Modi as there was no serious bilateral issue to be settled at that level. Facing corruption charges for which he has sought presidential pardon without admitting guilt, Netanyahu gains domestically by hosting Modi,” says K. P. Fabian, a retired diplomat.

For Netanyahu, the Indian PM’s visit is a major diplomatic victory. It signals that one of the leading voices of the Global South is willing to stand by Jerusalem even as others distance themselves. It punctures the narrative of isolation. The sight of the Indian Prime Minister embracing Netanyahu is a powerful counter-image.

But the Modi outreach has also drawn sharp criticism from India’s Opposition, especially the Congress party. “I hope that the Hon Prime Minister @narendramodi ji mentions the genocide of thousands of innocent men, women and children in Gaza while addressing the Knesset on his upcoming trip to Israel and demands justice for them. India has stood for what is right throughout our history as an independent nation, we must continue to show the light of truth, peace and justice to the world,” Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra wrote in a social media post on X, ahead of Modi’s visit.

Since Independence, India has been a staunch supporter of Palestinian rights, regarding it as an extension of the anti-colonial struggle of that time. India was the first non-Arab nation to recognise the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in 1974, and the state of Palestine in 1988. Yasser Arafat, the charismatic PLO leader, was a frequent visitor to India, and the PLO has had an office in the capital since 1975. At one time, a large number of Palestinians used to study in Indian universities. But gradually this became a trickle.

A Congress government in 1992 established full diplomatic ties with Israel. Engagement with Israel has steadily increased since then, but the shift accelerated dramatically after Modi came to power in 2014.

Palestinians realise that India’s support has waned in the last few decades, despite paying lip service to the two-state solution sanctified by a UN resolution. Despite this, Modi’s visit at this juncture has disappointed them.

“India has a proud and consistent history of supporting anti-colonial struggles and the Palestinian right to self-determination. Leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru placed Palestine within the broader moral framework of decolonisation and international law,” says Muhammad Makram Balawi, an Istanbul-based Palestinian academic and analyst. “India’s voice carries weight… India’s legacy is not neutrality in the face of injustice; it is principled leadership. This is a pivotal moment to reaffirm that tradition, not depart from it,” Balawi adds.

Realpolitik has played a decisive role in India-Israel relations. Israel offers India cutting-edge defence systems, cyber capabilities, agricultural innovation and counter-terror expertise, and for New Delhi, these are crucial. The visit has resulted in a tighter embrace between the two countries. The relationship has now been elevated to a special strategic partnership. In all, 17 agreements and MoUs were signed, and 10 new announcements were made. One of the key outcomes was to establish a critical and emerging technologies partnership that will boost cooperation in AI, quantum computing and critical minerals. There are also overarching agreements on geophysical explorations in agriculture, fisheries and manufacturing. A wide spectrum of collaboration is on. For the Modi government, which takes pride in national security and technological advancement, Israel is a force multiplier.

Ideology too is at play. The Hindu right’s admiration for Israel’s muscular nationalism and uncompromising security doctrine has created an emotional resonance between the two governments. Both leaders project themselves as strongmen defending ancient civilisations against modern threats. The symbolism is important to Modi’s domestic constituency.

India has massive stakes in the Gulf region. Over nine million Indians live and work here sending back remittances to families back home. Modi has done much to improve ties with the Arab world. The geopolitics of the region is shifting with Israel emerging as a major military and economic force. Rivalry between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), both Sunni Muslim countries, is leading to new alignments. Concerns over Iran’s nuclear ambitions once unified the Sunni world. But Iran is no longer the force it once was, and the region is on edge as the US, and perhaps Israel, prepare to strike Iran. India, while maintaining its relations with Saudi Arabia and every sheikhdom, is clearly a part of the emerging partnership of Israel-UAE-India, with the US a friend to all three. The I2U2 Group is a partnership comprising India, Israel, the UAE, and the US.

“In Israel, Modi sought to consolidate the Israel, India and the UAE security partnership to protect national interests in the turbulent West Asian scenario,” says Talmiz Ahmad, former Indian ambassador to Saudi Arabia and the UAE, who tracks developments in West Asia. “Clearly, to achieve this agenda, the prime minister has affirmed the primacy of this trilateral partnership over India’s other regional engagements. The wisdom and resilience of this choice remains to be seen.”

Whether Modi has done well in choosing to stand visibly beside Israel at this moment or if India has surrendered the moral leadership it once claimed, will play out in the coming years.

This article is part of Outlook's March 11 issue Femme Fatale which looks at how popular media has shaped narratives of violence against women over the years and rewrites the language of male gaze in media which commodifies and condemns the women who make headlines.