Opposition, allies pressure Modi government to halt arms supply to Israel

India’s Narendra Modi government is facing criticism not only from opposition parties but also from its own allies for its continued support of Israel, which has been internationally accused of committing genocide.

Several political leaders have signed a statement condemning what they describe as the “heinous genocide of the Palestinian people by Israel” and are urging their government to work towards “peace and justice”.

The Janata Dal (United) party – one of Modi’s key allies whose support is crucial for the political survival of his government – recently joined the opposition in calling for a halt in arms supplies to the Israeli military, which has killed more than 40,000 people in the besieged Palestinian enclave.

The JD (U) is an ally of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and part of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government.

This development followed a recent visit by a group of activists from the League of Parliamentarians for Al-Quds, an independent organisation that coordinates global parliamentary efforts in support of Palestinian liberation.

A delegation from the organisation met JD (U) general secretary KC Tyagi and at least 15 other Indian parliament members to build momentum for pushing the Modi government to change its stance on the Israeli occupation.

“(India’s) current policy towards the Israel-Palestinian conflict needs revision, and hopefully, we will be able to convince Indian officials to make the necessary changes,” Mohammad Makram Balawi, the secretary general of the League of Parliamentarians for Al-Quds, tells TRT World.

He stressed that Tyagi is one of the few Indian politicians with a long history of strong support for Palestine, and his regular expressions of support in Parliament and local media are crucial for rallying public backing for Palestine and working to balance Indian policy towards the Middle East.

Tyagi said in an interview after the meeting that his party supported the Palestinian cause since its early days, and added, “We want the killing of the elderly, women, and children to stop in Gaza, and we also want UN resolutions regarding Israel and Palestine to be respected.”

Shift in policies

India is Israel’s largest defence buyer, purchasing about $2 billion worth of arms annually and constituting over 30 percent of Israel's total arms exports.

The exchange of arms, on the other hand, has been mutual.

According to Israeli media, India has supplied Israel with advanced drones and other weaponry manufactured in Hyderabad. While the Modi administration has not officially confirmed or denied these claims, it is known that there is a joint venture between Israel’s Elbit Systems and India’s Adani Group. The two allies also collaborate on surveillance technology.

Besides, tens of thousands of Indian workers are expected to fill jobs in Israel, replacing Palestinians who have been barred from entry by Tel Aviv since October.

However, this friendship is relatively new. Since Narendra Modi came to power in 2014, India’s stance on the Israeli occupation and the Palestinian cause has shifted dramatically.

In 1947, India voted against the partition of Palestine at the United Nations General Assembly and was the first non-Arab state to recognise the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) as the representative of the Palestinian people in 1974.

Diplomatic ties between the two were not established until 1992, and Modi made history in 2017 as the first Indian Prime Minister to visit Israel.

“Historically, India has consistently supported the Palestinians and their cause,” says Balawi.

“But the dynamic changed when the BJP came to power, as there is an ideological affinity between the BJP and Likud party. The close friendship between Modi and Netanyahu has been evident, particularly in both Israeli and Indian media.”

Both Likud and the BJP have consistently built their politics on religious nationalism, leading to public unease and the rise of extreme ideologies in their countries. This has manifested in frequent cases of Hindu mobs in India and illegal settlers in Israel violating laws, becoming an everyday reality.

Indian public on Palestine

India’s shift on the Palestine issue is motivated by the rapid rise of Hindu nationalism in the country and the Modi government's emphasis on maintaining good relations with the United States.

The right-wing Modi was among the first world leaders to express solidarity with Israel after the October 7 attack by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas, labelling the group as "terrorists”.

His stance differed from the country’s diplomatic policy, which does not designate Hamas as a terrorist organisation.

India also abstained from backing a UN resolution on October 27, 2023, which called for a "humanitarian truce" in Gaza.

While pro-Israel rallies have been a consistent presence on Indian streets since the onset of Israel's bloody war on Gaza, public displays of solidarity with Palestine have faced ongoing suppression, with the government often targeting demonstrators.

On the other side, right-wing Indian social media accounts have been prominent in spreading anti-Palestinian misinformation across various social media platforms, while the Indian media was found to have played a significant role in disseminating false information about the alleged beheading of Israeli babies, a claim that was subsequently proven to be false.

An AI study analysed 4,316 tweets from the Indian timeline, with 2,200 mentioning the Israel-Palestine conflict. Of these, over 1,250 expressed support for Israel, while around 250 favoured Palestine, showing a five-to-one ratio in favour of Israel.

Balawi notes the importance of preserving the historical friendship between the Indian and Palestinian peoples, and says his organisation plans a larger official visit to the Indian Parliament in the coming months.

In addition to meetings with the Speaker of the Parliament and other government officials to discuss their views on Palestine, the group is also planning campaigns to mobilise public opinion.

According to him, the Modi government argues that since a private company handles arms exports, it has no control over them.

Several Indian lawyers who filed a case are now waiting for the court's decision.