India’s growing defense and technological ties with Israel are also not neutral engagements; they are active complicity in the oppression of Palestinians in Gaza.
India’s deepening ties with Israel represent a profound moral betrayal. By aligning with a state that practices apartheid and systematically oppresses Palestinians, India has abandoned its historical commitment to justice, equality, and anti-colonial solidarity. This partnership is not a mere diplomatic misstep; it is an active complicity in human rights violations that demand unequivocal condemnation and immediate action.
The Reality of Israeli Apartheid
Israel’s policies towards Palestinians constitute a clear and systematic regime of apartheid, as defined under international law. The United Nations International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid (1973) and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (2002) describe apartheid as inhuman acts committed to establish and maintain domination by one racial group over another, systematically oppressing them.
Human rights organizations, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, have documented Israel’s apartheid practices. Amnesty International’s 2022 report, Israel’s Apartheid Against Palestinians: Cruel System of Domination and Crime Against Humanity, details how Israeli authorities impose a system of domination and oppression against the Palestinian people in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT), and against Palestinian refugees. The report concludes that Israel’s policies and practices amount to apartheid under international law.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has also found Israel responsible for apartheid. In a 2024 ruling, the ICJ determined that Israel’s military occupation of Palestinian territory, including the West Bank, is illegal and that Israel’s occupation is based on systematic discrimination, segregation, and apartheid.
India’s Complicity
Defense cooperation, trade, and technology transfers make India a participant in Israel’s machinery of oppression. Indian companies export components and dual-use technologies that feed into Israeli drones, missile systems, and surveillance infrastructure. Simultaneously, India imports high-tech military and civilian equipment from Israel, some of which has dual-use applications directly enhancing the state’s control over Palestinian populations. These economic and defense ties, whether through arms sales, joint projects, or commercial trade, normalize and sustain Israel’s apartheid regime.
Since October 7, 2023, Gaza has been transformed into an open-air graveyard. Israel, armed and shielded by the United States and Western powers, has unleashed a campaign of collective punishment that has reduced entire neighbourhoods to rubble and buried thousands of lives beneath the ruins.
This is not “self-defense” but systematic extermination, where starvation, bombardment, and the destruction of hospitals, schools, and refugee camps are deliberate instruments of war. The West, with its endless supply of weapons, diplomatic cover, and hollow human-rights rhetoric, stands as a co-author of the genocide. Their complicity is not an accident of geopolitics but an extension of colonial arrogance—proving again that Palestinian life is expendable so long as Western interests and Israel’s settler project are preserved. It is moving in the direction of ethnic cleansing.
India’s growing defense and technological ties with Israel are also not neutral engagements; they are active complicity in the oppression of Palestinians in Gaza. By continuing to collaborate with a state that practices apartheid, India is endorsing and facilitating these human rights violations. India’s deepening ties with Israel represent not just a diplomatic choice but a profound moral and political failure.
By aligning with a state whose very ideology – Zionism serves as a settler-colonial project enforcing apartheid and oppression, India has abandoned its historical commitment to justice, equality, and anti-colonial solidarity. Zionism has manifested as a structural system of dispossession and racial hierarchy, displacing and marginalizing Palestinians in ways that echo, yet invert, historical suffering. This growing momentum has grown exponentially with the arrival of the BJP Government under Narendra Modi as the Prime Minister under the BJP in 2014.
India’s bonhomie with Israel is evident in high-level visits, joint defense projects, and a rapidly expanding trade relationship. This warmth goes beyond pragmatic diplomacy; it signals a political and moral alignment with a state whose policies constitute systemic oppression. India’s leaders openly celebrate strategic partnerships with Israel, touting defense collaboration, intelligence sharing, and technology transfers, all while Palestinians face blockade, occupation, and dispossession. The cordiality between the two governments normalizes Israel’s apartheid regime, sending a message that economic and strategic interests outweigh principles of justice, human rights, and solidarity with the oppressed.
Post October 2023, India has long been one of Israel’s top three arms clients, with cumulative defense imports exceeding US $2.9 billion over the past decade. That history matters, but it is after October 2023—when Israel launched its genocidal war on Gaza—that defense ties acquired a new intensity.
In 2023, Israeli arms sales to India stood at about US $135 million, dipping slightly to US $128 million in 2024. But alongside this trade, India exported US $123 million worth of defense equipment to Israel in FY 2023–24, and nearly US $28 million more in just the first eight months of FY 2024–25. For the first time, the flow of weapons and components has become two-way, as Indian firms actively feed Israel’s war machine.
Adani–Elbit JV in Hyderabad produced over 20 Hermes 900 drones- several units were diverted to Israel during the Gaza assault. PLR Systems (Adani–IWI JV, has been manufacturing Israeli small arms, including AI-enhanced rifles, since 2024. DRDO–Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) cooperation on Barak-8 missile systems continued uninterrupted. In February 2025, BEL and Israel’s Reshef Technologies signed a pact to co-produce electronic fuzes in India for precision munitions. In May 2025, Paras Defence and Israel’s HevenDrones tied up to develop military logistics drones under “Make in India.”
Furthermore, Indian companies have been found to supply arms to Israel, directly contributing to the military capabilities used in the oppression of Palestinians. A report by Business & Human Rights Resource Centre in April 2025 highlighted that several Indian companies continue to supply arms to Israel amidst the ongoing conflict in the occupied Palestinian territories. This deepening cooperation goes beyond buyer–seller logic. Indian companies are embedding into Israeli supply chains, effectively outsourcing parts of Tel Aviv’s weapons production to Indian soil. This integration ensures that, while Gaza is being pulverized, Israel can sustain its war effort with Indian technology, assembly lines, and exports.
India’s Complicity is Not Abstract
Politically, India’s posture has shifted disturbingly in recent years. Abstaining from UN votes condemning Israel’s attacks on Gaza, maintaining diplomatic warmth during escalations, and prioritizing strategic and trade interests over the protection of Palestinian rights all signal complicity.
Silence and bonhomie in the face of mass killings, dispossession, and occupation cannot be framed as neutrality; they are an active moral choice that aligns India with the oppressor.
In 2025, India abstained from voting on a UN Human Rights Council resolution urging an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and an arms embargo on Israel. This shift in policy contrasts sharply with India’s earlier votes in favour of resolutions supporting Palestinian rights. This change reflects a disturbing trend towards prioritizing strategic interests over human rights and justice.
India’s Trade and Economic Complicity
India’s complicity with Israel extends beyond politics and defense cooperation; it is also embedded in trade and economic ties that materially sustain the apartheid state. India imports advanced military technology, including drones, missile components, and surveillance systems, which are directly used to control and oppress Palestinians in the Occupied Territories. Civilian goods, such as high-tech software and agricultural technology, are also imported, some of which have dual-use potential for military or surveillance purposes.
On the export side, Indian firms supply components used in Israeli weaponry, electronics, and other materials that feed into Israel’s military-industrial complex. These exports, though less publicized, make India an active participant in enabling Israel’s occupation machinery.
Every transaction – import or export – strengthens Israel’s capacity to maintain apartheid and undermines international pressure for justice. Trade normalization signals complicity, helping Israel insulate itself from global accountability. India’s continued economic engagement thus directly contributes to the oppression of Palestinians, making material action, alongside diplomatic condemnation, essential.
The ethical and political response is clear: stop all arms imports from Israel, halt exports that support military or surveillance technology, and end trade agreements that legitimize settlements or occupation-related production. Supporting international sanctions and the global BDS movement are critical steps toward enforcing accountability and isolating Israel economically.
Zionism and Hindutva: Settler-Colonial Parallels
Zionism and Hindutva, while emerging in distinct historical contexts, share structural and ideological similarities as exclusionary nationalist movements that assert the primacy of one group over others. Zionism arose as a settler-colonial project in Palestine, claiming a “homeland” for Jews after centuries of persecution, but achieving this through the dispossession and systemic oppression of the indigenous Palestinian population. Hindutva, in contrast, emerged as a Hindu nationalist ideology in India, seeking to establish cultural and political dominance of Hindus over religious and ethnic minorities, particularly Muslims and Christians.
Both ideologies use historical narratives to legitimize present-day domination. Zionism invokes the memory of Jewish suffering and exile to justify territorial conquest and segregation. Hindutva draws on narratives of past Muslim invasions and threats to Hindu civilization to justify majoritarian political control and the suppression of minority rights. In practice, both have produced state-sanctioned structures of exclusion: settlements, land dispossession, citizenship laws, and systemic discrimination in social, economic, and political spheres.
International law frames these practices differently, yet both result in oppression, marginalization, and the normalization of inequality. Where Zionism underpins Israeli apartheid and occupation, Hindutva informs the policies of the Indian state under the current regime, ranging from legal harassment, lynching, and false conversion charges to cultural marginalization.
The assertion that “Hindutva in Kashmir is like Zionism in Palestine” argues that the rise of the Hindutva ideology in India is mirroring the Zionist movement’s impact on Palestine, characterized by similar strategies like settler colonialism, denial of self-determination, and suppression of human rights, though the comparison remains a point of debate and academic discussion. Proponents of this comparison draw parallels between India’s actions in Kashmir and Israel’s policies in the Palestinian territories, noting similarities in the use of rhetoric, legal frameworks, and demographic engineering to consolidate control and advance nationalist narratives. In both cases, ideology is used to consolidate state power, normalize violence, and suppress dissent.
Recognizing these parallels is crucial. India’s current embrace of Israel, from arms trade to political bonhomie, is not merely transactional; it reflects an ideological affinity between two nationalist projects premised on dominance and exclusion. This ideological symmetry explains why India overlooks Israel’s apartheid and, simultaneously, pursues policies that increasingly marginalize its own religious and ethnic minorities.
The Call for Isolation
The time has come for India to take a firm stand against apartheid and human rights abuses. This requires a radical shift in policy: India must isolate Israel politically, economically, and diplomatically until it ends its apartheid practices and upholds international law.
This isolation should include:
- Suspending all military and technological cooperation with Israel, including arms sales and joint defense projects.
- Imposing economic sanctions on Israel, such as banning imports from Israeli settlements and restricting trade in goods produced in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
- Advocating for international sanctions against Israel in multilateral forums like the United Nations and the European Union.
- Supporting Palestinian sovereignty by recognizing Palestine as a full member state in the United Nations and other international organizations.
- Providing humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, ensuring that assistance reaches those in need without interference from Israeli authorities.
The Global Context
Internationally, there is a growing consensus that Israel’s actions constitute apartheid and that it must be held accountable.
Several European nations have announced plans to recognize Palestine as a state at the upcoming UN General Assembly and to impose sanctions on Israel, including banning imports from Israeli settlements and blacklisting certain Israeli ministers and settlers. This move aligns with similar actions by other countries and reflects a growing international commitment to Palestinian rights.
Additionally, cultural and academic boycotts are gaining momentum. Hundreds of film industry professionals, including actors, directors, and writers, have signed a public pledge to boycott Israeli film institutions they say are complicit in genocide and apartheid against Palestinians. This initiative, organized by Film Workers for Palestine, emphasizes the ethical obligation to reject institutions aligned with Israeli state policies.
The Ethical Imperative for India
India has chosen to move in reverse gear. India’s historical commitment to justice, equality, and anti-colonial solidarity demands that it take a principled stand against apartheid. By isolating Israel and supporting Palestinian rights, India can reclaim its moral leadership on the global stage. This is not merely a political decision; it is a moral imperative that reflects India’s values and its commitment to justice and human rights.
India’s partnership with Israel is a betrayal of its own principles and a complicity in the oppression of Palestinians. The time for equivocation has passed. India must take immediate and decisive action to isolate Israel and support Palestinian sovereignty. This is not just a matter of foreign policy; it is a matter of upholding human dignity and standing against apartheid. This is an ethical imperative.
India’s historical commitment to justice, equality, and anti-colonial solidarity demands that it take a principled stand against apartheid. As Nelson Mandela stated, “To deny people their human rights is to challenge their very humanity.” India must not allow its strategic interests to override its ethical obligations.
By isolating Israel and supporting Palestinian rights, India can reclaim its moral leadership on the global stage. This is not merely a political decision; it is a moral imperative that reflects India’s values and its commitment to justice and human rights.
– Ranjan Solomon has been a long-time advocate for justice and an independent state for Palestine. He contributed this article to the Palestine Chronicle.