India’s ties with Tel Aviv have just got a little more challenging as the foreign ministers of Pakistan and Israel met in Istanbul today and set the stage for normalisation of bilateral ties. The highest level official political contact so far between the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the Jewish state should compel New Delhi to stop taking its ties with Israel for granted. The meeting between Pakistan’s foreign minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri and his Israeli counterpart Silvan Shalom could further boost Pakistan’s image as a ‘‘moderate Muslim state’’ and Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf’s standing in Washington as a bold leader and a credible partner. Reflecting the high stakes in his Israel initiative, Musharraf plans to address leaders of the American Jewish community in New York during his visit this month. While the rapprochement between Islamabad and Tel Aviv will have a huge symbolic value in West Asia, sections of the Indian establishment will wonder whether its special relationship with Israel will now come under stress. The prospect of Pakistan establishing full diplomatic ties with Israel has been on the cards ever since Musharraf himself launched a controversial domestic debate on the eve of Israeli Premier Ariel Sharon’s visit to India two years ago. As India allowed an unnecessary cooling of ties with Israel since Sharon’s visit, especially after the UPA came to power, Pakistan intensified its diplomatic contacts with Tel Aviv. Last January at the Davos Business summit, Pakistan PM Shaukat Aziz and Israeli Dy PM Shimon Peres found time to bump into each other and shake hands. Pakistan, which has been chaffing at Israel’s advanced military and high technology transfers to India, has been looking at an appropriate moment to unveil a new relationship with Israel. The televised withdrawal of Jewish settlements from the Gaza strip last month provided a political opportunity for Musharraf to limit the inevitable backlash from the Islamic parties in Pakistan. While Musharraf has positioned himself to compete with India in cultivating special ties with both Israel and the Jewish lobby in US, India seems to have allowed domestic political considerations to come in the way of expanding engagement with Israel. Despite establishing full diplomatic relations with Israel in 1992, India deliberately avoided political visits at the highest levels. It took 11 years for an Israeli premier to visit India. While the President and PM of Israel have visited India, Delhi has been unwilling so far to schedule return visits by either the PM or the President. Despite the fact that the Palestinians have often sought a greater Indian role in promoting the peace process with Israel, the presumed need for domestic political posturing appears to have overwhelmed the strategic sense of the Indian leadership. While this ideological compulsion appears stronger within the UPA, the NDA too was paralysed by a presumed need to ‘‘balance’’ its ties with Israel and the Arabs. If the UPA does not get its act together on Israel, Delhi might find Tel Aviv doing the balancing act between India and Pakistan. More immediately, if the Indian PM and President do not find time to visit Israel, Musharraf could become the first head of government or state from the sub-continent to be serenaded in Israel.
