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signs of interest and policy convergence. They were pronounced in the
1970s and 1980s when anti-Israeli rhetoric was politically correct in the
discourses of the NAM and various other UN forums. This trend reached
its crescendo in November 1975 when India joined other Third World
countries and voted for the General Assembly Resolution that depicted
Zionism as racism (Lewis 1976 ).
Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao’s decision to normalize relations
meant that the former position of outright condemnation of Israel was no
longer possible; for example, on 25 May 1967, more than ten days before
the June War, India depicted Israel as the ‘aggressor.’ Normalization
removed this option. Thus, since 1992 it presents a more nuanced bal-
ance vis-à-vis Israel and its conflict with the Palestinians. Endorsing and
shoring up support for the two-state solution became the dominant
Indian discourse. Rather than blaming Israel for everything, New Delhi
began counselling restraint and caution on both sides towards reaching a
peaceful and negotiated political settlement. Like Saudi Arabia, for exam-
ple, its initial response to the Second Lebanon War of 2006 was more
restrained and balanced than its subsequent condemnation of Israel
(India, MEA 2006c).
At the same time, since the early 1990s official statements issued during
India’s bilateral engagements with the Middle East have been uneven and
less consistent. Its support for the Palestinians came with its endorsement
of the two-state solution and its support for the ‘secure and recognized’
borders as envisaged in UNSC Resolution 242. At times, there were direct
references to both Israel and Palestine coexisting side by side, and at oth-
ers, there were no direct or indirect references to the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict. It also endorsed the Palestinian cause without any direct refer-
ences to Israel. The following are some of the examples of this somewhat
uneven presence of the Palestinian issue in the Indo-Middle Eastern
engagements since the early 1990s.
- Despite the past anger over the Iraqi aggression of 1990, in the joint
statement issued at the end of Kuwaiti Emir Al-Sabah’s visit to India
in 2006 both countries pledged their “support for the establishment
of a sovereign, independent, united and viable state of Palestine
within a reasonable timeframe through a negotiated settlement
within secured and recognized borders as envisaged in the Quartet
Roadmap and relevant UN Security Council Resolutions.” Both
leaders “condemned the killing of innocent civilians” but due to
P. R. KUMARASWAMY AND MD. M. QUAMAR