CIAO DATE: 12/03

India and Israel Move Closer Together

Armand Cucciniello and Pramit Mitra

The South Asia Monitor
Number 63
October 01, 2003

The Center for Strategic and International Studies

 

Abstract

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s short visit to India in early September, the first by an Israeli prime minister, highlighted the dramatic expansion in a relationship that started only 12 years ago. Before Sharon’s early departure because of two suicide bombings back home, ministers from both countries signed six agreements covering visa requirements, environmental protection, combating illicit drug trafficking, and an initiative to begin an educational exchange program. The accent, however, was on the rapidly growing military supply relationship. Balancing its relations with Israel and its still important ties with the Muslim Middle East, especially its major oil suppliers, will be a growing challenge for India’s policymakers.

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