domestic politics 139Is it possible to establish the link between domestic and foreign policy
with a reasonable degree of conviction? Do domestic calculations play a
signifi cant role? If so, should they be considered as appeasement or as a
conspiracy to denigrate the secular ethos of the state? Has secularism been
used to camoufl age meaningful debate on the internal currents that shape
foreign policy? Is there openness within the country over domestic dy-
namics? Can foreign policy remain immune and indiff erent to various
sectoral demands and aspirations?
As the following narrative highlights, domestic calculations played a
signifi cant role in shaping India’s Israel policy. To argue otherwise is
both untenable and questions India’s credentials as a democracy. Instead
of seeing the domestic factor as either appeasement or a right- wing con-
spiracy, it is essential to view it as part of the demo cratic discourse within
the country. Put diff erently, if India is a democracy, can it remain indif-
ferent to the views and aspirations of an important segment of its popula-
tion, namely, the Indian Muslims?
The most serious challenge to a meaningful debate stems from the
Indian obsession to secularize its foreign policy’s logic and compulsions.
Po liti cal Correctness, “Secular” Paradigm
The most eff ective means by which Indian leaders and scholars
sought to establish the secular credentials of its Middle East policy has
been to highlight the Jewish character of Israel.^2 While Jewish national-
ism was religious, the Arabs fought under the banner of secularism, they
argued. As early as in 1933, Nehru categorically argued that the British
“pit Jewish religious nationalism against Arab nationalism.”^3 At times,
Indian leaders used the “religious” character of Israel as a rationale for
the absence of diplomatic ties. How can a secular country have normal
relations with a country that was founded on a religious basis? Speaking
in Cairo in 1966, within months of assuming offi ce, Prime Minister
Indira Gandhi declared that Indian support to Arab countries “is not only
due to our traditional friendship towards the Arab people but to our be-
lief in and commitment to socialism and to the principle that states should
not be carved out or created on the basis of religion.”^4 In a similar vein, India
explained its close ties with the Arab world in secular terms. An Annual
Report of the Ministry of External Aff airs declared that India “shares