India’s unholy alliance with Israel and the death of solidarity
July 29, 2025
MEMO
Supporter of the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party, India’s ruling party) holding flags expressing their opinions during a protest to show solidarity with Israel, on 15 October 2023, in New Delhi, India [Pradeep Gaur/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images]
by Ranjan Solomon
“Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam” was India’s grand slogan during its G20 presidency – the world is one family. But what does this philosophy mean when we actively arm a state committing genocide? When we criminalize peaceful protest against war crimes? When our government offers unwavering diplomatic support to a regime that bombs children seeking aid and obliterates entire hospitals? India, once a beacon of moral leadership in the Global South, has today become complicit in one of the gravest atrocities of our time.
The arms of hypocrisy
India’s military and strategic ties with Israel have skyrocketed over the past decade. In 2015, defence trade between India and Israel stood at a modest $5.6 million. Today, that figure has surged to over $185 million annually. India is now Israel’s largest arms customer, importing everything from drones and surveillance systems to precision-guided missiles.
These weapons are not produced in an ethical vacuum. Many of the technologies exported to India are “battle-tested”—a euphemism for weapons field-tested on Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. In purchasing them, India effectively endorses the occupation, the apartheid wall, the home demolitions, and now, the unfolding genocide in Gaza.
A genocide in real time
What is happening in Gaza is no longer ambiguous. Over 60,000 Palestinians have been killed since October 2023many of them women and children. Hospitals have been systematically targeted. Aid convoys bombed. Starvation is being used as a weapon of war.
Leading jurists, including Craig Mokhiber, former Director of the UN Human Rights Office in New York, have called this genocide “deliberate, methodical, and systematic.” In his resignation letter to the UN, Mokhiber wrote: “This is a textbook case of genocide. The US, UK, and much of Europe are wholly complicit. And so is India.”
READ: Indian civil society groups urge halt all military, strategic cooperation with Israel
India’s silence—and worse
India’s response has not been silence; it has been active support. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was among the first global leaders to express solidarity with Israel after 7 October, even before any verified facts had emerged. The Indian government refused to condemn the indiscriminate bombing of civilians, and instead blocked pro-Palestine demonstrations, suspended student activists, and hounded academics and journalists who dared speak out.
Universities were told not to allow campus protests. Student unions faced disciplinary action for issuing solidarity statements. Even humanitarian vigils were denied police permission in major cities like Delhi, Mumbai, and Bangalore. The crackdown bore eerie similarities to authoritarian regimes: silence the dissenters, criminalise compassion.
India, which once hosted Yasser Arafat with state honours and championed Palestinian freedom at the United Nations, now partners militarily with apartheid and turns its back on a people being ethnically cleansed in real time.
Suppressing the people’s voice
Civil society in India has not been silent. From Delhi to Kerala, independent groups, human rights defenders, and student bodies have bravely spoken out. Artists have painted for Gaza. Lawyers have written letters to the Supreme Court. Teachers have held teach-ins, and Muslims across the country have organised prayer vigils.
But they’ve faced state repression, digital surveillance, and media slander. News channels label them as “anti-national.” Police use the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) to harass or detain peaceful activists. Social media platforms are being monitored and often censored, especially in universities.
Resistance from the left
It is to the credit of India’s Communist and socialist parties that they have remained morally consistent. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has condemned the genocide unequivocally and demanded the restoration of the people’s right to protest.
In a recent statement, CPI(M) wrote: “We stand in unwavering solidarity with the people of Palestine in their struggle for justice, dignity, and liberation. The Government of India’s strategic embrace of Israel is a betrayal of our historic commitment to anti-colonialism and human rights.” The Samyukt Kisan Morcha, the umbrella body of protesting farmers, has also issued statements linking the struggle of Palestinians to the resistance of oppressed peoples everywhere.
These voices must not be sidelined. They remind us that India’s soul has not been entirely lost; that there are still moral anchors in our political life.
Why India must rethink its stance
India is not just another country in this equation. As the world’s largest democracy, our choices carry weight. By aligning with Israel, India not only taints its legacy of anti-colonial solidarity but also undermines its own national interest.
India itself has been a victim of colonial rule. We understand the cost of occupation, the scars of partition, the trauma of violence. To now support a regime that mirrors those very oppressions is a profound betrayal, not just of Palestinians, but of our own historical truths.
Decolonisation means standing with Palestine
India should be leading global calls for decolonisation—not defending settler-colonial states. We cannot speak of human rights in Kashmir or Sri Lanka while arming apartheid in Gaza. We cannot quote Gandhi and Nehru while ignoring their steadfast support for Palestinian self-determination.
A true foreign policy of dignity would imply:Calling for an immediate ceasefire and unhindered humanitarian access to Gaza.
Suspending all arms trade and intelligence cooperation with Israel.
Leading efforts at the UN and Global South for sanctions, diplomatic isolation, and war crimes accountability.
Supporting international investigations through the ICJ and ICC, not undermining them.
Protecting the right to dissent in our own country, including voices who support Palestine.
Conclusion: History is watching
The Gaza genocide is not a footnote. It is the moral question of our time. And India’s place in history will be judged not by its trade statistics or geopolitical calculations, but by where it stood when innocent children were bombed in breadlines. Do we choose justice—or do we choose to be bystanders?
India cannot claim to lead the Global South while aiding the machinery of genocide. This is the moment to correct course. To raise our voice, stop the arms, reclaim our values. Because in the end, it is not just about Palestine. It is about who we are.
*Ranjan Solomon is a political analyst and human rights defender. He has been an advocate for Palestinian justice since 1987 and has worked across continents on issues of decolonisation, anti-racism, and grassroots empowerment.
Citations / ReferencesStockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) – “Trends in International Arms Transfers, 2023”, March 2024.
[India remains Israel’s top arms buyer, with over $185 million in annual trade.]
https://sipri.org/publications/2024/sipri-fact-sheets/trends-in-international-arms-transfers-2023
Craig Mokhiber, Former Director, UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (New York), Resignation Letter, October 2023.
“This is a textbook case of genocide.”
https://mondoweiss.net/2023/10/this-is-a-textbook-case-of-genocide-full-text-of-un-human-rights-officials-resignation-letter/
Al Jazeera English, Gaza Death Toll Tops 60,000: MoH in Gaza, July 2025.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/7/22/gaza-death-toll-rises-60000
Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) – Press Statement, October 7, 2023.
[India’s official declaration of solidarity with Israel.]
https://mea.gov.in/press-releases.htm?dtl/37055
CPI(M) Central Committee, Statement on Palestine, November 2023.
“Government of India’s strategic embrace of Israel is a betrayal of our historic commitment to anti-colonialism.”
https://cpim.org/statements/cpim-condemns-genocide-gaza-2023
The Hindu, India Bans Pro-Palestine Demonstrations in Multiple Cities, October–December 2023.
https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/pro-palestine-protests-banned-india/article67567560.ece
Human Rights Watch, Israel’s Apartheid Against Palestinians: Cruel System of Domination, 2021.
https://www.hrw.org/report/2021/04/27
United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) – Gaza Crisis Updates, 2024–2025.
https://www.unocha.org/occupied-palestinian-territory
The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.
Supporter of the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party, India’s ruling party) holding flags expressing their opinions during a protest to show solidarity with Israel, on 15 October 2023, in New Delhi, India [Pradeep Gaur/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images]
by Ranjan Solomon
“Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam” was India’s grand slogan during its G20 presidency – the world is one family. But what does this philosophy mean when we actively arm a state committing genocide? When we criminalize peaceful protest against war crimes? When our government offers unwavering diplomatic support to a regime that bombs children seeking aid and obliterates entire hospitals? India, once a beacon of moral leadership in the Global South, has today become complicit in one of the gravest atrocities of our time.
The arms of hypocrisy
India’s military and strategic ties with Israel have skyrocketed over the past decade. In 2015, defence trade between India and Israel stood at a modest $5.6 million. Today, that figure has surged to over $185 million annually. India is now Israel’s largest arms customer, importing everything from drones and surveillance systems to precision-guided missiles.
These weapons are not produced in an ethical vacuum. Many of the technologies exported to India are “battle-tested”—a euphemism for weapons field-tested on Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. In purchasing them, India effectively endorses the occupation, the apartheid wall, the home demolitions, and now, the unfolding genocide in Gaza.
A genocide in real time
What is happening in Gaza is no longer ambiguous. Over 60,000 Palestinians have been killed since October 2023many of them women and children. Hospitals have been systematically targeted. Aid convoys bombed. Starvation is being used as a weapon of war.
Leading jurists, including Craig Mokhiber, former Director of the UN Human Rights Office in New York, have called this genocide “deliberate, methodical, and systematic.” In his resignation letter to the UN, Mokhiber wrote: “This is a textbook case of genocide. The US, UK, and much of Europe are wholly complicit. And so is India.”
READ: Indian civil society groups urge halt all military, strategic cooperation with Israel
India’s silence—and worse
India’s response has not been silence; it has been active support. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was among the first global leaders to express solidarity with Israel after 7 October, even before any verified facts had emerged. The Indian government refused to condemn the indiscriminate bombing of civilians, and instead blocked pro-Palestine demonstrations, suspended student activists, and hounded academics and journalists who dared speak out.
Universities were told not to allow campus protests. Student unions faced disciplinary action for issuing solidarity statements. Even humanitarian vigils were denied police permission in major cities like Delhi, Mumbai, and Bangalore. The crackdown bore eerie similarities to authoritarian regimes: silence the dissenters, criminalise compassion.
India, which once hosted Yasser Arafat with state honours and championed Palestinian freedom at the United Nations, now partners militarily with apartheid and turns its back on a people being ethnically cleansed in real time.
Suppressing the people’s voice
Civil society in India has not been silent. From Delhi to Kerala, independent groups, human rights defenders, and student bodies have bravely spoken out. Artists have painted for Gaza. Lawyers have written letters to the Supreme Court. Teachers have held teach-ins, and Muslims across the country have organised prayer vigils.
But they’ve faced state repression, digital surveillance, and media slander. News channels label them as “anti-national.” Police use the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) to harass or detain peaceful activists. Social media platforms are being monitored and often censored, especially in universities.
Resistance from the left
It is to the credit of India’s Communist and socialist parties that they have remained morally consistent. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has condemned the genocide unequivocally and demanded the restoration of the people’s right to protest.
In a recent statement, CPI(M) wrote: “We stand in unwavering solidarity with the people of Palestine in their struggle for justice, dignity, and liberation. The Government of India’s strategic embrace of Israel is a betrayal of our historic commitment to anti-colonialism and human rights.” The Samyukt Kisan Morcha, the umbrella body of protesting farmers, has also issued statements linking the struggle of Palestinians to the resistance of oppressed peoples everywhere.
These voices must not be sidelined. They remind us that India’s soul has not been entirely lost; that there are still moral anchors in our political life.
Why India must rethink its stance
India is not just another country in this equation. As the world’s largest democracy, our choices carry weight. By aligning with Israel, India not only taints its legacy of anti-colonial solidarity but also undermines its own national interest.
India itself has been a victim of colonial rule. We understand the cost of occupation, the scars of partition, the trauma of violence. To now support a regime that mirrors those very oppressions is a profound betrayal, not just of Palestinians, but of our own historical truths.
Decolonisation means standing with Palestine
India should be leading global calls for decolonisation—not defending settler-colonial states. We cannot speak of human rights in Kashmir or Sri Lanka while arming apartheid in Gaza. We cannot quote Gandhi and Nehru while ignoring their steadfast support for Palestinian self-determination.
A true foreign policy of dignity would imply:Calling for an immediate ceasefire and unhindered humanitarian access to Gaza.
Suspending all arms trade and intelligence cooperation with Israel.
Leading efforts at the UN and Global South for sanctions, diplomatic isolation, and war crimes accountability.
Supporting international investigations through the ICJ and ICC, not undermining them.
Protecting the right to dissent in our own country, including voices who support Palestine.
Conclusion: History is watching
The Gaza genocide is not a footnote. It is the moral question of our time. And India’s place in history will be judged not by its trade statistics or geopolitical calculations, but by where it stood when innocent children were bombed in breadlines. Do we choose justice—or do we choose to be bystanders?
India cannot claim to lead the Global South while aiding the machinery of genocide. This is the moment to correct course. To raise our voice, stop the arms, reclaim our values. Because in the end, it is not just about Palestine. It is about who we are.
*Ranjan Solomon is a political analyst and human rights defender. He has been an advocate for Palestinian justice since 1987 and has worked across continents on issues of decolonisation, anti-racism, and grassroots empowerment.
Citations / ReferencesStockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) – “Trends in International Arms Transfers, 2023”, March 2024.
[India remains Israel’s top arms buyer, with over $185 million in annual trade.]
https://sipri.org/publications/2024/sipri-fact-sheets/trends-in-international-arms-transfers-2023
Craig Mokhiber, Former Director, UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (New York), Resignation Letter, October 2023.
“This is a textbook case of genocide.”
https://mondoweiss.net/2023/10/this-is-a-textbook-case-of-genocide-full-text-of-un-human-rights-officials-resignation-letter/
Al Jazeera English, Gaza Death Toll Tops 60,000: MoH in Gaza, July 2025.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/7/22/gaza-death-toll-rises-60000
Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) – Press Statement, October 7, 2023.
[India’s official declaration of solidarity with Israel.]
https://mea.gov.in/press-releases.htm?dtl/37055
CPI(M) Central Committee, Statement on Palestine, November 2023.
“Government of India’s strategic embrace of Israel is a betrayal of our historic commitment to anti-colonialism.”
https://cpim.org/statements/cpim-condemns-genocide-gaza-2023
The Hindu, India Bans Pro-Palestine Demonstrations in Multiple Cities, October–December 2023.
https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/pro-palestine-protests-banned-india/article67567560.ece
Human Rights Watch, Israel’s Apartheid Against Palestinians: Cruel System of Domination, 2021.
https://www.hrw.org/report/2021/04/27
United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) – Gaza Crisis Updates, 2024–2025.
https://www.unocha.org/occupied-palestinian-territory
The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.
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