112 recognition without relations1949, Israel’s application for membership came before the UN General
Assembly.^18 In tune with its earlier position, India voted against the mo-
tion, which was endorsed by the majority in the UN General Assembly.^19
New Delhi could not ignore Israel’s eventual admission into the United
Nations, and on June 3, 1949, Nehru conceded: “We shall have to consider
our future policy in regard to it [Israel’s UN membership].”^20 Through
these public pronouncements and internal debates, Nehru conveyed a
wait- and- see approach toward recognizing Israel.
This domestic caution was accompanied by a friendlier stance interna-
tionally. By September 1948, weeks after the second Arab- Israeli ceasefi re
came into force, Israeli diplomats felt that a favorable Indian decision
was a foregone conclusion and only the timing remained uncertain. As
Nehru was gathering domestic support for recognition, India exhibited a
friendlier and sympathetic attitude toward Israel. On September 28, 1948,
India’s ambassador in Washington, B. N. Rau, met his Israeli counterpart
and referred to normalization.^21 Interestingly, the envoy talked about
“normalization” when India was still nearly two years away from recogni-
tion. The following May, Vijayalakshmi Pandit, who succeeded Rau in
Washington, told her Israeli counterpart Elath that India would recognize
the Jewish state at an appropriate time. She estimated that this “may hap-
pen soon after the settlement of the Kashmir dispute.”^22 The next month,
Rau, who had moved to the United Nations, dealt at length with the exist-
ing commonalities between India and Israel and noted that there was no
confl ict of interest between the two states.^23 In her meeting with Ambas-
sador Elath in September, Mrs. Pandit observed that India was slowly
moving toward recognizing Israel and that the decision could not be de-
layed further.^24
In October 1949, Elath had a lengthy conversation with Nehru when
the Indian prime minister visited the United States. Summing up this
meeting, the Israeli ambassador cabled:
Nehru listened attentively, obviously disturbed by mention [of ] Tur-
key’s recognition. In reply after announcing complete frankness he
explained India’s attitude [toward] Israel. People never anti- Semitic,
Hitler made them friends of Jews. Many Indians admired in past
Zionist and now most sympathetic [to] Israel.... He had to choose
slow, long, way towards recognition [in] order [to] justify it objectively
and minimize internal opposition.... He arrived [at the] conclusion
recognition cannot be postponed much longer.... To my question