“India’s relations with Israel have, of late, acquired a depth and diversity, which cannot be rolled back.” Discuss.
Approach · directive: “discuss”
What it asks · Explain how India–Israel ties have deepened across defence, agriculture, technology and diplomacy, and judge how far they are irreversible given India's West Asia interests.
The question has 2 parts — answer each
- Discuss the depth and diversity of India–Israel relations: defence, agriculture, technology, diplomacy
- Assess whether the relationship cannot be rolled back: drivers of permanence against the constraints
Open with · Full diplomatic relations began in 1992; Prime Minister Modi's visit in July 2017, the first by an Indian Prime Minister, and Prime Minister Netanyahu's visit in January 2018 opened a new phase.
Cover
- Defence and security: Israel is a major supplier of drones, missiles and radars, with growing joint development and production; counter-terror and intelligence cooperation adds trust.
- Agriculture and water: Centres of Excellence and Indo-Israel agricultural projects bring drip irrigation and horticulture technology to Indian farmers.
- Innovation and trade: the India–Israel Industrial R&D and Technological Innovation Fund (I4F, 2017), start-up links, and growing trade in technology, chemicals and diamonds.
- Diplomatic shift: India has 'de-hyphenated' its Israel and Palestine policies, engaging Israel openly while still backing a two-state solution and Palestinian development.
- Why it may last: convergent interests in security, technology and agriculture, support across governments for over two decades, and dependable supply in crises.
- Limits: Gulf and Iran interests, traditional support for Palestine (India backed the UN General Assembly resolution against the US Jerusalem decision, December 2017) and domestic opinion demand balance.
- Assessment: ties are unlikely to be rolled back given their multi-sector stakes, but pace and public profile stay sensitive to West Asian events; India should keep a hedged, issue-based approach.
Close with · India–Israel cooperation is now structural and mutually beneficial; India can sustain it by pairing it with strong Gulf ties and a principled position on Palestine.
Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2018, GS Paper II — paper ↗. Approach: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify) — UPSC publishes no model answers. ·
Model answer · 233 words (UPSC limit 150) · Minimalist IAS
Full diplomatic relations date from 1992; Prime Minister Modi's July 2017 visit, the first by an Indian Prime Minister, and Prime Minister Netanyahu's January 2018 visit brought a once-discreet partnership into the open.
Depth and diversity
- Defence and security: Israel is a major supplier of drones, missiles and radars, moving to joint development and production; counter-terror and intelligence cooperation adds trust.
- Agriculture and water: Indo-Israel Centres of Excellence bring drip irrigation and horticulture technology to farmers, a rare people-level benefit.
- Innovation and trade: the India–Israel Industrial R&D and Technological Innovation Fund (I4F, 2017), start-up links, and trade in technology, chemicals and diamonds.
- Diplomacy: India has 'de-hyphenated' Israel from Palestine, engaging Israel openly while backing a two-state solution and Palestinian development.
Can it be rolled back?
- Why it will last: convergent interests in security, technology and agriculture, backing from governments of every hue for over two decades, and dependable supply in crises.
- Constraints: Gulf energy and diaspora interests, ties with Iran, and traditional support for Palestine (India backed the UN General Assembly resolution against the US Jerusalem decision, December 2017) demand balance.
- Assessment: the stakes are multi-sectoral and institutional, so reversal is improbable; but pace and public profile stay sensitive to West Asian events, favouring a hedged, issue-based approach.
India–Israel cooperation is now structural and mutually beneficial; India can sustain it by pairing it with strong Gulf ties and a principled position on Palestine.
Written by Minimalist IAS from facts checked at source (how we verify) — a little fuller than exam length, so every part of the question is covered; in the hall, keep the structure and trim the detail. UPSC publishes no model answers: compare your structure and coverage with this, then write your own.