But despite Israel’s growing importance in India, especially among the huge band of Modi followers, Israel remains a conspicuous gap on his itinerary. Instead, to keep the intense engagement between the two sides going, he had managed to convince Pranab Mukherjee to be the first Indian President visit the country last October. But the President, an astute politician himself, visited Israel only after travelling to Jordan and Palestine, thus earning the distinction of being the first Indian head of state to travel to these countries. Then, in January Modi sent foreign minister Sushma Swaraj to travel to Israel to engage with the leadership there. But Sushma too ensured that before visiting Tel Aviv she also visited Palestine and spoke to the leadership there. In addition, she also attended a meeting of the Arab League and engaged with leaders of various Arab countries in Bahrain. This was a clear signal that India, even under Modi, isn’t willing to develop and strengthen ties with Israel at the expense of the other West Asian countries. A visit by the crown prince of UAE Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed to India, and the number of agreements the two sides signed this week, only serves to confirm this theory a bit more.