Read the given passage carefully and answer the questions that follow.  The fact that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Palestine just weeks after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu toured India demonstrates just why rising powers like New Delhi can play a significant role in building peace between Israel and Palestine, and in the broader Middle East. U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem irreparably damaged the United States’ image as a credible arbiter in the Israel- Palestine conflict. In contrast, rising powers like India are considered acceptable by a broad range of regional
players. From a U.S. perspective, the strategic entry of new these into the Middle East will be increasingly difficult to prevent. The involvement in the peace process of India—a fellow democracy and security partner of Washington— provides a preferable option when compared to other rising powers who may seek to fill the void.  While Delhi has increased security ties with Israel, it has simultaneously strengthened ties with the Palestinian Authority. Its “friend-to-all” image enabled New Delhi to garner an invitation from Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas to sit on a proposed “multilateral forum” for negotiations on a peace deal between Palestine and Israel—a role India is increasingly able to fill.  Many assessed the pomp and ceremony of Netanyahu’s New Delhi visit as evidence of India’s increasing proximity to Israel. The public affection reflected New Delhi’s strategic interests. The Indian military has relied on Israeli technology on the battlefield; last year India and Israel signed a $2 billion deal for an advanced medium-range surface-to-air missile system. Israel has positioned itself as one of India’s largest source of arms, with a 7.2 percent share of imports into India between 2012 and 2016.  But while the ideological stripes of the current BJP government and certain security interests mean Israeli overtures are warmly received, there are significant structural factors that drive India to maintain a balanced approach to the Israel-Palestine issue. The rhetoric about “dehyphenating” Israel-Palestine is an attempt to justify this objectivity to those seeking to pull India into supporting one side over the other. While no bilateral relationship is fully independent of other relationships, counteracting forces acting upon Indian policymakers ensure New
Delhi takes a relatively neutral approach.  Indian policymakers feel that in an increasingly multipolar world, the way to maximize leverage is to make other states work for one’s favor rather than have it taken for granted through alliance membership. Thus, what had previously been promoted as idealist nonalignment has now evolved and been rebranded as realist strategic independence.  Importantly, India is seen as able to act more independently than many Western states with regard to Israel. This is evident in the fact that when Israel’s preferences collide with New Delhi’s strategic autonomy, the latter always wins out. Modi’s visit to Palestine is a prime example. Furthermore, despite Israel and the United States urging that India minimize its energy and defense ties with Iran, India continues to rely on Iranian oil and engage in defense cooperation. Modi even visited Iran in 2016 and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani arrived in India this week for his own visit. The rhetoric throughout Modi’s trips to Iran and Palestine included references to the depth of ties, similar to those heard during the Indian prime minister’s trip to Israel. Modi’s speeches in Ramallah will likely be similarly replete with themes of camaraderie and “brotherliness.”   For global audiences, India projects an image of moderation with regard to its positions on the Middle East’s conflicts. While Delhi has prioritized sovereignty and nonintervention, providing soft-spoken support to like Syria and pre-2003 Iraq, in opposition to the West, the re-entry of Russia into the region and its robust defense of Damascus makes New Delhi’s position more centrist.  Source: https://thediplomat.com