AFTER the 7 October Hamas attack on Israel, Indian media and right-wing public opinion had overwhelmingly supported the Israeli military response in Gaza. There can be no denying that both Tel Aviv and New Delhi form a confluence of their ulterior interest vis-à-vis the occupation-cum-annexation of the Palestinian and Kashmiri territories. Since 2014, the policies —that Narendra Modi has been practicing in IIOJK—are not in a different vein of Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu’s adopted policies in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza. A latest investigation by reliable sources suggests India has been illegally supplying weapons to support Israel’s war on Gaza. Moreover, there is an indisputable evidence suggesting that Indian hand is involved in supporting Israeli genocidal war in Gaza, particularly through its Hindutva supporters.
Needless to say, under the Modi regime, India has systematically distanced itself from its traditionally adopted stance on the Palestinian issue. Rather, India has developed a deep-cum-utilitarian relationship with Israel, particularly in the context of the ongoing conflict in Gaza. Recent reports have indicated that India has been supplying Israel with weapons as it conducts military operations in Gaza. The May 15 case regarding the cargo vessel Borkum at the Spanish coast richly serves the evidence that an Indian arms shipment was enrooted to Israel. An investigation carried out by the Solidarity Network against the Palestinian Occupation (RESCOP), suggests the Borkum contained the 20 tonnes of rocket engines, 12.5 tonnes of rockets with explosive charges, 1,500kg (3,300 pounds) of explosive substances and 740kg (1,630 pounds) of charges and propellants for cannons. Subsequently, on June 6, in the aftermath of Israel’s bombing of a United Nations shelter at the Nuseirat refugee camp in Gaza, the Quds News Network released a video of the remains of a missile dropped by Israeli warplanes. Amid the tangled parts, a label clearly read: “Made in India.”
In addition, there have been some photos’ reflection —depicting hundreds of Indian migrants in Israel participating in the extermination of the Palestinian people. Shockingly, the very first Israeli soldier killed during the current invasion was from India. In order to shut down the pressure over India’s unqualified support for Israel, New Delhi has imparted aid deliveries to Gaza via United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). Though Modi’s Government denies any pursuit of forming the Gaza war nexus with Israel and the US, India’s official response to the Israel-Hamas war reflects a meaningful and likely durable strategic tilt toward Israel by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar holds the maxim: India is entitled to make its own choices which will be a balance of its values and interests.
Indian military intelligence-gathering efforts support Israeli genocide operations. It is a by-product of the close intelligence-sharing relationship India enjoys with Israel. Because of India’s close partnership with Israel, New Delhi deliberately abstained from the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) Resolution calling for an “immediate, durable and sustained humanitarian truce” in Gaza. A new report shows that the Israeli regime plans to replace Palestinian workers with 80,000 foreign workers permanently this year with a majority coming from India. The US-India-Israel nexus rejects UN’s triple nexus approach – which aspires to transform the planning, implementation and financing of humanitarian, development and peace activities in fragile situations—embracing in Middle East amid the war in Gaza.
Moreover, Indian military support in the garb of political Vedanta of Hindutva-Zionism alliance is largely reflected by the commentaries relayed in the Indian news channels amid war in Gaza. On X (formerly twitter), #IndiawithIsrael started trending, with trolls abusing those remotely supportive of Palestine while extending their unapologetic solidarity with the Zionist government. From fake videos on the Israeli hostages to morphed photos and old news, India became a hub of disinformation that, in essence, sought to establish Israel as the real victim of war in Gaza. In that vein, in a few Indian cities, marches were even held where demonstrators chanted “Israel Zindabad’’ (Long Live Israel) alongside Hindutva slogans like “Jai Shri Ram” (Glory to Lord Rama) and nationalist ones like “Jai Hind” (Victory to Hindustan). In the same vein, the right-wing corporate media run by Hindutva- sponsored projects—often referred to as “Godi Media” in India.
Clearly, New Delhi’s adopted policy vis-à-vis Israel is all enough and good enough to raise questions about India’s dual role: a) as an aid provider and b) as a participant in the genocide alongside Israel in Gaza. Yet not surprisingly, the mainstream Indian media remains conspicuously silent about India’s role in the ongoing conflict. In contrast, the Indian media openly relays the clips that develop an impression about the ongoing Zionist-Indo-American nexus in Gaza. But this devious nexus —against the writ of international law preserving the right of self-determination to the Palestinians and Kashmiris endorsed by the UNSC resolutions— cannot last longer. Notably, in response to UK’s illegal arms supply to Israel, a British Foreign Office diplomat has currently resigned believing the UK Government ‘’may be complicit in war crimes.’’
As per the law of occupation imbibed and stipulated in the fourth Geneva Convention, Israeli occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip is beyond any legality. In the same vein, the Indian occupation of Jammu and Kashmir —by dint of force or via India’s domestic legislation —is ultra vires to the international law writ. In that sense, both Tel Aviv and New Delhi have committed transgressions-cum-gross violations of International Humanitarian Law (IHL). Make no mistake the international community recognizes both Palestinian and Kashmir as the disputed territories under international law. A blatant shift in India’s policy on Palestine and its unqualified support of Israel in the Gaza war sufficiently proves that as Israel’s Gaza war partner, India aims to unilaterally occupy Kashmir. In pursuit of defending its own strategic interests, New Delhi has been a complicit of war crimes.
—The writer, an independent ‘IR’ researcher-cum-international law analyst based in Pakistan, is member of European Consortium for Political Research Standing Group on IR, Critical Peace & Conflict Studies, also a member of Washington Foreign Law Society and European Society of International Law. He deals with the strategic and nuclear issues.
(rizvipeaceresearcher@gmail.com)
