A group of farmers from Gujarat's Surat raised their voices against the recent demonetization move by Prime Minister Narendra Modi by pouring gallons of milk down the roads and throwing grains on the road in protest.They carried out a rally from Jahangipura area of Surat and went till the collector's Office at Athwalines area. More than 200 tractors were a part of this rally.

In what is seen as a major shift in foreign policy, India may abstain from voting in favour of the Palestinian cause at the UN General Assembly, The Hindu reported on December 21. The Modi government is expected to take the step, which is seen as a decisive one in the light of India’s efforts at strengthening relations with Israel. At the same time, this fundamental alteration in foreign policy may raise concerns in West Asian capitals.

India was one of the first non-Arab countries to recognise the Palestine Liberation Organisation as “the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people.” Mahatma Gandhi had remarked: “Palestine belongs to the Arabs in the same sense that England belongs to the English or France to the French. It is wrong and inhuman to impose the Jews on the Arabs... Surely it would be a crime against humanity to reduce the proud Arabs so that Palestine can be restored to the Jews partly or wholly as their national home.”

A PLO office was opened in New Delhi in 1975. In 1980, full diplomatic relations were established between the two nations. In 1996, India opened a Representative Office in Gaza. In 1995, India pledged US $1 million in aid to Palestine and followed it up with an additional $1 billion in 1996. India also accepted Palestinian refugees from Iraq in 2006, many of whom were later resettled in Sweden. In October, Sweden officially recognised the state of Palestine.

In 2006, India issued a strong statement against the Israeli invasion of Gaza, describing the use of force as “disproportionate and excessive." In July, when Israel mounted an offensive on Gaza in attacks that killed an estimated 2,200 people, India had reiterated that its Palestine policy remained unchanged and urged the two sides to talk. At the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit in New York in September, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said that India, as the founding member of NAM, remained committed to the Palestinian cause.

However, India’s ties with Israel have grown from strength to strength since 1991, when the two countries established diplomatic relations. In 2000, Jaswant Singh, Foreign Minister in the NDA government under Prime Minister Vajpayee, became the first Indian foreign minister to visit Israel. In 2003, Ariel Sharon became the first Israeli Prime Minister to visit India. However, even the Vajpayee government made no changes to India's voting record at the UN.

Currently, India is the largest customer of military equipment from Israel. The West Asian country is India’s second largest military partner after Russia, with the military business between the two countries estimated at around US $9 billion.

In this climate marked by deep investment in each other by both countries, the Palestinian cause has emerged a casualty.

Agencies