India-Israel relations: de-hyphenation to strategic partnership

India and Israel were born within a year of each other, and their innovation ecosystems matured in parallel. That is why de-hyphenation, India’s doctrine of treating Israel and Palestine as independent, zero-sum-free tracks, and the strategic partnership declared during Prime Minister Modi’s 2017 standalone visit to Tel Aviv, the first by an Indian Prime Minister, define this relationship.

From covert R&AW-Mossad links in 1962 and 1971 to full diplomatic ties in 1992, the arc bends steadily upward. Israel is India’s fourth-largest arms supplier and a critical technology partner in water, agriculture and cybersecurity, while I2U2 and IMEC give the partnership a 21st-century operating system.

From covert to open: the evolution

India opposed the 1947 partition and spent the Cold War years on the pro-Arab side of the Non-Aligned Movement, even while covert intelligence cooperation ran beneath the surface, R&AW-Mossad links during the 1962 and 1971 wars. Full diplomatic relations came only in 1992, as the Cold War ended and India liberalised.

The foundational policy is the De-Hyphenation Doctrine, India’s policy of treating its relations with Israel and Palestine as completely independent, zero-sum-free tracks. Prime Minister Modi’s 2017 standalone visit to Tel Aviv proved it in practice and elevated ties to a strategic partnership. On multilateralism India has kept its balance: condemning the October 7 attacks, voting for humanitarian ceasefires at the UNGA, and increasing aid to UNRWA.

The defence spine: black-box technology

Defence is the relationship’s load-bearing wall. Israel is India’s fourth-largest arms supplier at roughly $2.9 billion per decade, and uniquely a “black box” partner that shares source codes and critical technologies others withhold. The Phalcon AWACS gave the IAF its airborne early-warning backbone; SPICE 2000 guided munitions were used at Balakot; Barak-8 long-range air defence is a DRDO-IAI co-development; Spike anti-tank missiles serve the infantry.

The partnership is industrialising: the Adani-Elbit Advanced Systems facility in Hyderabad manufactures Hermes 900 combat drones for global export, and third-country defence exports to Africa and Southeast Asia are the agreed growth path. On the digital front, cyber-defence cooperation on a “Security by Design” template, plus joint intelligence task forces set up after the Pahalgam and New Delhi terror alerts, take the partnership into counter-terrorism’s most sensitive domain.

Economy and innovation: iCET, iCREATE, I4F

Bilateral trade reached $10.1 billion in FY23, making India Israel’s second-largest Asian trading partner, though the basket stays narrow, dominated by diamonds, pearls and chemicals. The technology layer runs through iCET pillars in quantum, semiconductors and AI, the iCREATE accelerator with Start-Up Nation Central, and the India-Israel Industrial R&D and Innovation Fund (I4F) at $1.5 million per call.

Agriculture, water and people

The India-Israel Agricultural Project (IIAP) runs 30 Centers of Excellence across Indian states, and the Villages of Excellence model has reached over a million farmers with drip irrigation and protected cultivation. Desalination cooperation extends from Gujarat to Lakshadweep pitches. Labour mobility agreements have opened legal pathways for Indian workers in Israeli construction and caregiving sectors.

Minilateralism and the Haifa anchor

I2U2, the 2021 minilateral of India, Israel, the UAE and the US, pairs Israeli technology with Indian manufacturing scale and Emirati capital. IMEC’s Mediterranean anchor is the Adani-operated Haifa Port, giving Indian logistics a European gateway. The human bridge is the 85,000-strong Indian-origin Jewish community, Bene Israel and Cochini Jews, whose heritage links India is now institutionalising.

The balancing act: frictions and ceilings

Four tensions qualify the optimism. The Iran dilemma is structural: Chabahar’s logic collides with Israeli hostility to Tehran. The Gaza conflict strains India’s ties with the Arab world and exposes the Gulf diaspora to risk. The bilateral FTA has stalled for years. And China’s tech footprint, notably the SIPG-operated terminal at Haifa, plus Israeli ceilings on the most sensitive technology transfers and the long shadow of the Pegasus controversy, cap how far the partnership can go.

What examiners keep asking

• De-hyphenation verbatim, with the 2017 standalone visit as the proof-text: the 2025 PYQ (“depth and diversity cannot be rolled back”) is this article’s mains question.
• The black-box defence paragraph: Phalcon, SPICE 2000 (Balakot), Barak-8, Spike, Hermes 900, $2.9B/decade, 4th largest supplier.
• Agri-tech as soft security: IIAP 30 CoEs, Villages of Excellence, desalination.
• Minilateral placement: I2U2’s tech leg, IMEC via Haifa Port, and why third-country exports are the growth path.
• The two balancers: multilateral nuance (Oct 7 condemnation, UNGA votes, UNRWA aid) and the four frictions (Iran, Gaza, FTA, China/tech ceilings).

Key Terms

• Strategic partnership: The strategic partnership is the upgraded tier of India-Israel ties declared during the 2017 standalone prime-ministerial visit. It formalised de-hyphenation and bundled defence, technology and innovation cooperation.
• Black-box partner: A black-box partner shares source codes and core technologies that other arms suppliers withhold. Israel is India’s canonical example, from Phalcon AWACS to missile co-development.
• Phalcon AWACS: Phalcon AWACS is Israel’s airborne early-warning and control system mounted on Indian aircraft. It gave the Indian Air Force its first genuine airborne surveillance backbone.
• Haifa Port: Haifa Port, operated by the Adani Group, is IMEC’s Mediterranean anchor. It gives Indian logistics and trade a direct gateway to Europe.
• Hermes 900: Hermes 900 is the Israeli combat drone manufactured at the Adani-Elbit facility in Hyderabad for global export. It marks the industrialisation of India-Israel defence ties.
• SPICE 2000: SPICE 2000 is Israel’s precision-guided munition kit that converts aircraft bombs into satellite-guided weapons. The IAF used it in the Balakot operation.
• De-hyphenation: De-hyphenation is India’s doctrine of treating its relations with Israel and Palestine as completely independent, zero-sum-free tracks. The Prime Minister’s 2017 standalone visit to Tel Aviv is its defining proof.
• Barak-8: Barak-8 is the long-range surface-to-air missile co-developed by India’s DRDO and Israel’s IAI. It is the flagship of India-Israel defence co-development, deployed across the Indian armed forces.
• iCREATE: iCREATE is the binational accelerator linking India’s innovation ecosystem with Israel’s Start-Up Nation Central. It is the startup layer of the iCET technology partnership.
• I2U2: I2U2 is the 2021 minilateral of India, Israel, the UAE and the US. Israel contributes cutting-edge technology to the grouping’s food-security, water and energy projects.
• IIAP: The India-Israel Agricultural Project runs 30 Centers of Excellence across Indian states. With the Villages of Excellence model, it has brought drip irrigation and protected cultivation to over a million farmers.
• I4F: The India-Israel Industrial R&D and Innovation Fund supports joint industrial research at $1.5 million per call. It converts laboratory cooperation into commercial products.

Practice questions