Barney Breen-Portnoy
Israeli Ambassador to India Daniel Carmon. Photo: YouTube screenshot / Israeli Foreign Ministry
Israel appreciates the “changes” in India’s recent voting pattern at UN institutions, the Jewish state’s New Delhi envoy told The Hindu in an interview published this past weekend.
“In the last couple of years, we have seen a shift in various votes (by India) which reflects the present improvement in relations,” Israeli Ambassador to India Daniel Carmon said. “I would not over exaggerate this as a trend, each side has their declared positions and it is not a zero-sum game. India says they are committed to the Palestinian cause, to the Arab cause, and they have good relations with Israel that they intend to pursue. We appreciate this stand, and at the UN, we can see it too.”
As reported by The Algemeiner, Israel and India currently enjoy a burgeoning relationship, particularly in the defense field.
India, The Hindu noted, abstained from a vote on an anti-Israel UN Human Rights Council resolution in the summer of 2015. This past June, India voted in favor of putting Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon in charge of the UN Legal Committee. And in October, India abstained from a vote on a UNESCO resolution that ignored the Jewish people’s ties with Jerusalem holy sites.
An Indian government official told The Hindu that India had a “very balanced” approach to Israel-Palestinian conflict-related votes in international forums.
“We vote for Palestine, but also for Israel on some of their initiatives at the UN,” the official said.
This year marks the 25th anniversary of the 1992 establishment of full diplomatic relations between Israel and India and there have been reports that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit the Jewish state to celebrate the occasion.
In November, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin traveled to the subcontinent, just over a year after his Indian counterpart President Pranab Mukherjee toured Israel.
Jason Isaacson — the American Jewish Committee’s director of government and international affairs — told The Hindu in an interview published on Monday that Mukherjee’s October 2015 trip represented India’s “coming out of the closet” regarding its relationship with Israel.
“There is less hesitation in India on embracing Israel,” Isaacson said. “It started before Mr. Modi, and it is a bipartisan position in India, but it is more public under Mr. Modi that Israel is a natural ally of India and there are mutual benefits.”
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