A recent Amnesty International report alleges India sent at least 2,596 shipments of military equipment and components to Israel since the Gaza war began. The authors argue this is not a sudden shift in India-Israel defence ties, but a sign of how deep the partnership has grown since Israel rapidly supplied India with critical equipment during the 1999 Kargil War.

Since then, under the "Make in India" programme, Israeli defence firms have built joint ventures and set up local manufacturing in India for drones, electronics, missile systems, and components — turning India from a buyer of Israeli weapons into a partner that helps produce them, just as Israel faces growing international pressure over its arms suppliers. If the shipment figures are accurate, they suggest India has moved from simply buying Israeli weapons to helping supply them, during a military campaign that has drawn some of the strongest global criticism Israel has faced.

What are the strategic benefits of India's defence partnership with Israel?

  1. Kargil-War Technology Transfers: Israel has consistently been willing to share advanced technology that many Western countries would not.
  2. Make in India Defence Localisation: the programme has moved drone, missile, and component production inside India's own defence industry, even as ties with Israel deepen.

What ethical and diplomatic challenges does the partnership raise?

  1. Middle East Scrutiny Without a Unified Response: sustained arms shipments will likely draw closer attention from India's partners across the Middle East and beyond. Still, the authors expect no single, unified Arab reaction this time — unlike during the Cold War — because Arab countries no longer share one common position on Israel.
  2. Congress Criticism of Modi-Netanyahu Ties: Congress leaders critical of the Modi government's ties with the Netanyahu government may use these disclosures to attack the ruling party. But this is unlikely to gain much attention, since public focus is currently on other domestic issues.
  3. Ethics of Arming a Criticised War Effort: beyond diplomacy, the authors raise a harder question — whether India should be helping produce weapons for an Israeli government whose conduct of the Gaza war has drawn widespread global criticism.

Conclusion

The authors expect India to keep its defence ties with Israel unchanged despite these disclosures, given how deep and complex the relationship already is. Even so, they conclude that the ethics of helping produce Israel's weapons under the current government deserve real, open debate.

Mains Angle

GS Paper II — International Relations: India's bilateral relations (India-Israel); effect of policies of other countries on India's interests. Also touches GS Paper III — defence indigenisation.

Practice question: "India's defence partnership with Israel has evolved from a buyer-seller relationship to one involving joint manufacturing. Discuss the strategic benefits of this partnership for India, along with the diplomatic and ethical challenges it poses in the context of the Gaza conflict. (250 words)"