In this fascinating and particularly-timely episode of the Misgav Institute’s “Mideast Horizons” podcast, hosts Lahav Harkov and Asher Fredman interview Israel’s Ambassador to India, H.E. Reuven Azar. Amb. Azar, who previously served as Foreign Policy Adviser to Prime Minister Netanyahu and as Deputy Ambassador in Washington D.C., shares critical insights on the future of India-Israel relations, the path to Middle East integration and prosperity – and what it’s like to prepare for a meeting with President Trump.
Amb. Azar emphasizes that, “India is going to become an element in Israel’s national security.” India, which will soon be the world’s third largest economy, sees Israel as a key innovation hub, and as a central component in a future East-West economic corridor. Azar discuss the opportunities and challenges for expanding bilateral cooperation and investment between Israeli and Indian tech companies and research centers, and areas which have a particularly high potential for growth.
The discussion goes in-depth on the envisioned India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC), an ambitious plan to create trade, energy, and digital links between India, the Middle East (including UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Israel), and Europe. Israel’s Haifa Port, owned by India’s Adani Group, is a key component of this corridor. Amb. Azar discusses with Lahav and Asher the ways that innovation, trade and infrastructure development can not only take Israel-India relations to the next level, but can help shape a Middle East future of growth, prosperity and stability.
With regards to Indian public opinion in the context of Israel’s ongoing war against Iran and Hamas, Amb. Azar notes the diversity of views, but concludes based on his personal experience that, “the majority of the people [in India] have a sense that we are actually facing the same challenge. The challenge of radicalism and terrorism.”
Amb. Azar also shares behind-the-scenes insights, as a former advisor to PM Netanyahu, on what it’s like to prepare for a meeting in the White House with President Trump. He discusses his personal involvement in the coordination between Israel and the United States over the sensitive issue of Chinese economic activity in Israel, and the mutually-beneficial solutions that he helped formulate.
Lahav and Asher break down the outcomes of the Netanyahu-Trump meetings and the vision of a new Middle East order, discuss the implications of a Gaza ceasefire for Israel’s national security, and explore the feasibility of new paradigms for Israel-Palestinian relations, given the failure of Oslo.
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