Walking the tightrope between its burgeoning ties with Tel Aviv and its support for the Palestinian cause, foreign minister S.M. Krishna, who embarks on a three-day visit to Israel next month, will also be going to Ramallah in the West Bank where he is expected to meet Palestinian National Authority president Mahmoud Abbas and foreign minister Riyad Malki.
Incidentally, minister of state for external affairs E. Ahamed too was in Palestine last month to participate in the handing over ceremony of the IBSA multi-purpose sports centre at Ramallah. During the visit, Mr Ahamed reiterated New Delhi’s “continued support to Palestine in their efforts to achieve a just solution to the Middle East conflict”.
The visit by Mr Krishna to Israel itself is of huge import given that an Indian foreign minister will be setting foot on Israeli soil for the first time in 11 years. While in Tel Aviv, the foreign minister is expected to sign at least two agreements with the Israeli government. While one concerns extradition, the other relates to the exchange of prisoners.
However, more than the inking of these agreements, the mere fact that an Indian foreign minister will be visiting Israel after such a long gap is being seen as a substantive and natural step forward in the growing bilateral relations between the two countries. Over the years, Israel has become the second largest supplier of defence systems to India with annual sales worth around a billion dollars. The two are also in negotiations for signing a Free Trade Agreement (FTA).
It is learnt that it is New Delhi that had first come up with the suggestion that the foreign minister visit Israel over a year ago. Incidentally, 2012 will also mark two decades of establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries.
The last visit by an Indian foreign minister to Israel was by Mr Jaswant Singh in 2000 during the tenure of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA government.