recognition without relations 125exchange diplomatic personnel.”^103 Gradually, “the time is not ripe” be-
came the standard Indian mantra on the normalization of relations with
Israel.
Over the years, India began discovering new reasons to prolong the
absence of formal ties. In December 1960, the prime minister informed
the Rajya Sabha (the upper house of India’s parliament) that India did
not have a diplomatic mission in Israel because “the whole position is very
much entangled in important and rather dangerous international is-
sues.”^104 In September 1963, India felt that “there is not enough consular
work to justify a post.”^105 On May 27, 1969, following the June war, For-
eign Minister Dinesh Singh off ered a new rationale. Speaking at a meet-
ing of Indian envoys in the Middle East, he felt that India “had not estab-
lished diplomatic relations with Israel because Israel had followed wrong
policies against Arabs particularly the Palestinians. It was persisting with
this policy and until there was a revision of this policy it would be diffi cult
for India to revise her policy. One could also fully justify India’s policy in
this regard from the point of view of national interests.”^106 Elaborating
on this logic, some recalled diff erences with Israel over key issues. In their
assessment, the offi cial communiqué of September 17, 1950, underscored
that recognition “did not mean that it had endorsed the Israeli position
regarding its boundaries.”^107
At times, India sought to justify its nonrelations through a secular
logic and its refusal to accept the notion that religion could become the
basis for nationality.^108 This was aimed at countering Pakistan’s eff orts
in the Middle East and at forging closer ties with secular Arab national-
ism; while India is secular like most Arab states, Pakistan is closer to
Israel in terms of its ideological and religious focus!^109 In the light of
later developments, India linked normalization to demands for Israeli
withdrawal to the pre- June 1967 position, an endorsement of the right of
self- determination of the Palestinians, and the support of a “just and hon-
orable settlement” of the Palestinian problem.^110
In hindsight, many Indian leaders, including Nehru, admitted that
diplomatic exchanges should have occurred soon after recognition. Re-
calling his meeting with the Indian prime minister in 1961, the Israeli
diplomat Gideon Rafael observed:
After this minuet of preliminaries Nehru took over. India had recog-
nized Israel in 1950 he said and indeed should have at that time estab-
lished diplomatic relations. The sentiments in India towards Israel