UNDER Narendra Modi, the India-Israel relationship has adopted a unique ideological bent.
In 2017, Modi became the first Indian prime minister to travel to Israel. This evolving ideological convergence extends beyond mere symbolism. Sandeep Chakravorty, an Indian diplomat, said in 2019 that Hindu settlers in Kashmir might follow the example of Israeli colonies in the West Bank. Last year, Indian political scientist Anand Ranganathan advocated for a resolution to the Kashmir dispute that is “Israel-like.” India removed Kashmir’s limited autonomy in 2019. In a move reminiscent of Israel’s settlement in Palestinian territory, Indian authorities have granted residency permits to almost 350,000 non-local settlers since 2019. “Hindutva admires Israel’s methods in Palestine as a guide for how to deal with Muslims in Kashmir,” says Apoorvanand, a Hindi professor at Delhi University. The ethno-nationalist policies of the Bharatiya Janata Party led government resonate with those of Israel. This resonance is not merely rhetorical but manifests in policies, tactics, and strategic alignments on the ground.
This ideological alignment now shapes India’s responses to conflict incidents in Kashmir, as seen in the aftermath of the April 22 Pahalgam attack. Following the Pahalgam attack in Indian Illegally Occupied Kashmir, the narrative generated in India via social and electronic media comparing April 22 incident with the October 07 attack. The analysts were openly demanding to turn Pakistan into Gaza without any evidence of its involvement. In same vein, missile strike in Azad Kashmir targeting civilian infrastructure, resonates with Israel’s missile raid in Gaza. Following the Pahalgam attack, Indian soldiers arrested over 2,000 individuals, a sweeping crackdown, and the demolition of civilian homes, replicating Israel’s model of collective punishment.
India aiming to restore statehood of Jammu while, keeping occupied valley as a union territory. This selective restoration of statehood resemble Israel’s strategic patterns of control, fragmentation and demographic engineering. India is not only using Israeli drones, rifles, bombs, surveillance systems, and cybersecurity in its illegal occupation of Kashmir but also trained its security forces in Israel, adopting Israeli strategies, including “surgical strike” raids.
Israel’s quiet yet pivotal role in India’s Operation Sindoor, prominently featuring Israeli-made weapons, such as Harop loitering munitions, highlights its active involvement during the May 2025, escalation. The recent escalation proved decisive for India, where Pakistan emerged victorious on the diplomatic and military front. Trump acknowledged India’s loss of six Rafael jets, which India is reluctant to accept. Narendra Modi, whose political fortunes have previously benefited from military escalations triggered by false flag operations, failed to garner the expected outcomes. Another military misadventure is expected from India to establish the notion of victory.
Recently unverified claims by India of hitting the Kirana Hills have serious repercussions, as seen in the past, India’s claims of a surgical strike in 2016, followed by the 2019 Balakot misadventure. India, drawing parallels with Israel’s recent aggression against Iran’s nuclear program, is emulating similar strategic signaling in South Asia, which would have implications beyond the region. Such baseless assertions pose a perilous precedent and provoke escalation that Pakistan is fully equipped to deter and respond. The protracted Kashmir conflict lingering for last seven decades needs an immediate resolution, which is possible through international intervention, to avoid a nuclear catastrophe.
—The writer is a Associate Director at the Centre for International Strategic Studies, AJK.
(tahreembukhari1692@gmail.com)
