On a diplomatic level, both the countries have managed to maintain healthy relations
despite India's repeated strong condemnations of Israeli military actions in Palestinian territories, which are believed by analysts to be motivated by the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government's desire for Muslim votes in India.
Diplomatic visits
In 2000, Jaswant Singh became the first Indian Foreign Minister to visit Israel. Following the visit, the two countries set up a joint anti-terror commission. The foreign ministers of the two countries said intensified co-operation would range from counter-terrorism to information technology.
In 2003, Ariel Sharon was the first Israeli Prime Minister to visit India. He was welcomed by the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led National Democratic Alliance coalition government of India. Several newspapers expressed positive views on his visit, and Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee voiced confidence that Sharon's visit would pave the way for further consolidating bilateral ties.
Sharon's visit was condemned in leftist and Muslim circles. Hundreds of supporters of India's various pro-Islamic and communist parties rallied in New Delhi. Nearly 100 Muslims were arrested. Students of Aligarh Muslim University demanded that India sever ties with Israel and increase ties with Palestine. The Hindi-language daily Navbharat Times called Sharon "an important friend of India."
The Hindu nationalist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) condemned the protest against Sharon. RSS spokesperson Ram Madhav said: The entire world acknowledges that Israel has effectively and ruthlessly countered terror in the Middle East. Since India and Israel are both fighting a war against terrorism, therefore, we should learn a lesson or two from them. We need to have close co-operation with them in this field. He further alleged the role of Islamic Universities in India in increasing the Muslim terrorism and praised Israel for successfully combating against Islamic extremist militants and urged Indian government to deal with Islamic terrorism in the same manner. The RSS newspaper Panchjanya described the visit as an opportunity to get closer to Israel and fight terrorism jointly. Sharon expressed satisfaction over his talks with Indian leaders. Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee said the visit would increase ties between India and Israel. Sharon invited Vajpayee to visit Israel. Sharon said that Israelis "regard India to be one of the most important countries in the world," and Vajpayee was sure that Sharon's visit would bring the two states closer together.
In early 2006 Indian government ministers Sharad Pawar, Kapil Sibal and Kamal Nath visited Israel.
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi has also visited Israel.
Despite "India's unwavering support for the Palestinian cause", Foreign Minister SM Krishna visited Israel, Israel PM called this visit by Indian Foreign Minister a historical step forward in developing the relations between the two nations
India–Israel relations - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia