| Summary/Abstract |
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Israel visit had demystified the bilateral relations and brought them out of the tradition military-security paradigm and shifted the focus to non-political and developmental issues. His economic centric approach would be a major step towards the ‘normalization’ of Israel in India’s engagements with the wider Middle East. As it seeks closer ties with Iran and Saudi Arabia—the two rival and antagonistic powers in the Gulf region—India is also seeking closer ties with Israel. While much of the attention has been on the de-hyphenation of Israel and Palestine, the de-politicisation of the bilateral relations would be major outcome of Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Israel.
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