nehru and the era of deterioration, 1947–1964 183change,” the perennial Indian mantra, is primarily a reaffi rmation of
Nehru’s vital contributions.
India’s policy toward Israel is primarily a study of nonrelations or the
absence of normalization. For over four de cades, the changing interna-
tional po liti cal situations, the Eurocentric cold war, compulsions of inter-
ests, and domestic electoral calculations meant that the absence of nor-
malization was prominent in India’s Israel policy. Nonrelations did not
mean that the two countries were not interacting with each other. At least
in the early years, both countries were cooperating internationally. Slowly,
they drifted apart, and India soon emerged as the principal non- Arab and
non- Islamic country to castigate Israel for its policies and practices.
Between the formation of Israel in 1948 and the normalization of rela-
tions in January 1992, India had seven prime ministers.^3 With the excep-
tion of the Janata government (1977– 1979) and two co ali tion govern-
ments from 1989 to 1991, the Congress Party ruled India for much of this
period. Of these, the longest, the Nehru era (1947– 1964), was the defi n-
ing period for Indo- Israeli relations. Most critical decisions regarding Is-
rael were taken during Nehru’s reign. It was under his leadership that
India advocated the federal plan, voted against the partition plan, and
grudgingly recognized the Jewish state. Nehru played a crucial role in
the or ga ni za tion of the Afro- Asian movement that eventually culminated
in the formation of the Non- Aligned Movement. As will be discussed,
Nehru backed Israel’s exclusion from this bloc of newly in de pen dent
countries, which in turn signaled and consolidated Israel’s isolation from
the Third World. The Nehru years witnessed two major confl icts, namely
the Suez crisis of 1956 and the Sino- Indian war of 1962. These crises
both highlighted India’s policy toward Israel and underscored some of its
weaknesses. We begin with Nehru’s decision to invite the yishuv to the
fi rst Asian conference, which off ered a brief window of opportunity.
Asian Relations Conference, 1947
Convened on the eve of India’s in de pen dence, the Asian Rela-
tions Conference provided the fi rst opportunity for leaders of the newly
in de pen dent and near- independent countries of the continent to meet
and understand one another. Nonoffi cial in character, the Congress Party
or ga nized the conference in New Delhi. Nehru, heading the interim