In a historic first, Indian president Pranab Mukherjee has travelled to Israel and Palestine for the first ever visit to these territories by an Indian head of state. Despite India sharing 23 years of diplomatic ties with Israel and working closely on defence, counter- terrorism, agriculture and energy related issues, no Indian prime minister or president has ever previously visited it.
Later this year, Narendra Modi is also likely to become the first prime minister of India to visit Israel. Mr Modi had visited Israel as the chief minister of Gujarat in 2006. And as Indian prime minister, he met Benjamin Netanyahu on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly last year.
A hallmark of Mr Modi’s foreign policy has been a self-confident assertion of Indian interests. This is reflected in his government’s moves in relation to Israel, marking a distinct break from the diffidence of the past.
There has been a steady strengthening of India’s relationship with Israel ever since the two established full diplomatic relations in 1992.
In contrast to the back-channel security ties that existed before the normalisation of bilateral relations, India has been more willing to carve out a mutually beneficial relationship with Israel, including strengthening military ties and countering the threat terrorism poses to the two societies.
Over the years, the Indian government has also toned down its reactions to Israel’s treatment of Palestinians.
India has also begun denouncing violent acts in Israel, something that was seen earlier as rather justified in light of the Israeli policies against Palestinians. India is no longer initiating anti-Israel resolutions at the UN. This re-evaluation has been based on the belief that India’s largely pro-Arab stance in the Middle East has not been always adequately rewarded.
India has received little backing over the issue of Kashmir. Generally, the Arab world has stood by Pakistan, using the Organisation of Islamic Conference to build support for Islamabad in Kashmir. If some Arab countries, such as Jordan, have been able to keep their traditional ties with the Palestinians intact while building a new relationship with Israel, there is no reason for India not to take a similar route is the argument that holds sway in New Delhi.
Keeping India’s wider strategic interests in perspective, successive Indian governments since the early 1990s have walked a line between expressing genuine concern for the Palestinian cause and expanding its commercial and defence ties with Israel. India is the world’s largest buyer of Israeli weaponry and was Israel’s third largest trading partner in Asia in 2013 after China and Hong Kong.
On several occasions, Israel was willing to step up its arms sales to India after other major states curbed their technological exports following India’s May 1998 nuclear tests. When India was planning to undertake a limited military strike against Pakistan in June 2002 as part of Operation Parakram, Israel supplied hardware through special planes. Previous Indian governments had been reticent in acknowledging Israel’s partnership.
In diplomacy, public affirmation of friendships at the highest levels is often as important as drawing redlines for adversaries. After a major outreach to the UAE, the Modi government is also taking a step forward in its ties with Tel Aviv in the belief that an open relationship with Israel serves India well.
Harsh V Pant is a reader in international studies at King’s College London
Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
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Cricket World Cup League Two
Oman, UAE, Namibia
Al Amerat, Muscat
Results
Oman beat UAE by five wickets
UAE beat Namibia by eight runs
Fixtures
Wednesday January 8 –Oman v Namibia
Thursday January 9 – Oman v UAE
Saturday January 11 – UAE v Namibia
Sunday January 12 – Oman v Namibia
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BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE
Starring: Winona Ryder, Michael Keaton, Jenny Ortega
Director: Tim Burton
Rating: 3/5
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The specs
Engine: 2.7-litre 4-cylinder Turbomax
Power: 310hp
Torque: 583Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh192,500
On sale: Now
The results of the first round are as follows:
Qais Saied (Independent): 18.4 per cent
Nabil Karoui (Qalb Tounes): 15.58 per cent
Abdelfattah Mourou (Ennahdha party): 12.88 per cent
Abdelkarim Zbidi (two-time defence minister backed by Nidaa Tounes party): 10.7 per cent
Youssef Chahed (former prime minister, leader of Long Live Tunisia): 7.3 per cent
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Greatest of All Time
Starring: Vijay, Sneha, Prashanth, Prabhu Deva, Mohan
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RESULTS
Women:
55kg brown-black belt: Amal Amjahid (BEL) bt Amanda Monteiro (BRA) via choke
62kg brown-black belt: Bianca Basilio (BRA) bt Ffion Davies (GBR) via referee’s decision (0-0, 2-2 adv)
70kg brown-black belt: Ana Carolina Vieira (BRA) bt Jessica Swanson (USA), 9-0
90kg brown-black belt: Angelica Galvao (USA) bt Marta Szarecka (POL) 8-2
Men:
62kg black belt: Joao Miyao (BRA) bt Wan Ki-chae (KOR), 7-2
69kg black belt: Paulo Miyao (BRA) bt Gianni Grippo (USA), 2-2 (1-0 adv)
77kg black belt: Espen Mathiesen (NOR) bt Jake Mackenzie (CAN)
85kg black belt: Isaque Braz (BRA) bt Faisal Al Ketbi (UAE), 2-0
94kg black belt: Felipe Pena (BRA) bt Adam Wardzinski (POL), 4-0
110kg black belt final: Erberth Santos (BRA) bt Lucio Rodrigues (GBR) via rear naked choke
The%20specs
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Six things you need to know about UAE Women’s Special Olympics football team
Several girls started playing football at age four
They describe sport as their passion
The girls don’t dwell on their condition
They just say they may need to work a little harder than others
When not in training, they play football with their brothers and sisters
The girls want to inspire others to join the UAE Special Olympics teams
Ashes 2019 schedule
August 1-5: First Test, Edgbaston
August 14-18: Second Test, Lord's
August 22-26: Third Test, Headingley
September 4-8: Fourth Test, Old Trafford
September 12-16: Fifth Test, Oval
Company%20Profile
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The five pillars of Islam