The Crossbill News Desk
Nearly 100 rights organisations and individuals have strongly condemned the recently signed India-Israel Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT), calling it a clear indication of India’s complicity in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza, the occupation of Palestine, and the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.
They have urged the Indian government to withdraw from the treaty and cancel all defence cooperation and arms trade with Israel.
According to India’s Ministry of Finance, the BIT aims to “boost investments, provide greater certainty and protection for investors, facilitating the growth of trade and mutual investments by ensuring a minimum standard of treatment, and an independent dispute resolution mechanism through arbitration.”
The treaty was signed by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on September 8.
Rights groups termed the treaty as tantamount to endorsing apartheid and supporting Israel’s ongoing genocide of Palestinians in a letter addressed to the Indian government on September 13.
The letter, signed by organisations including the All India Youth Federation, People’s Union for Civil Liberties, Centre for Financial Accountability, Communist Party of India (ML), as well as activists, research scholars, and retired professors, emphasized that the treaty “promotes and protects private capital flows even as Israel continues its military siege and destruction of Gaza.”
“The treaty deepens economic ties with a regime that has long denied Palestinians the right to self-determination, entrenched occupation, and created a system of racial segregation through displacement and violence,” the letter stated.
It highlighted the dire situation in Gaza, stating, “Gaza has been reduced to rubble, its people, especially children, driven to hunger and denied medical aid. Meanwhile, occupation and attacks on the West Bank continue unabated.”
The letter further asserted that India’s defence cooperation with Israel is “inseparable from Israel’s assault on Palestine,” pointing out the role of the United States in sustaining Israel’s military dominance through unconditional “political, financial, and military support.”
It noted that India has intensified its defence trade with Israel in the last two years, becoming Israel’s single largest arms buyer while also exporting defence and surveillance technology.
“It has pressed ahead with a bilateral labour framework under which Indian workers are sent to Israel to replace Palestinians excluded from the labour market. This policy actively reinforces Israel’s attempt to erase Palestinian labour, a form of economic occupation that enforces apartheid through displacement,” the letter said.
In November 2023, India and Israel signed a Framework Agreement for the temporary employment of Indian workers in construction and nursing sectors in Israel. As of July this year, 6,774 Indian workers had gone to Israel for work under this agreement, the union government informed Parliament recently.
The letter also strongly criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi, accusing him of “duplicity” in his stances.
“India is deliberately choosing war, occupation, and apartheid over peace, self-determination, and equality. Its duplicity is evident: while Prime Minister Modi proclaims “this is not a time for war” on global platforms, his government supports a regime waging war against an occupied people. While claiming “strategic autonomy,” India continues to collaborate with countries that arm Israel,” the letter read.
It argued that supporting Israel today is tantamount to “supporting apartheid, occupation, racial segregation, and imperial domination,” and amounts to endorsing “an international order where the oppressed are subjugated to the interests of private capital and military power.”
The letter recalled India’s historical stance, noting that India was among the first countries to recognize Palestine in 1988, as part of its anti-colonial struggle and commitment to justice for all peoples.
Consequently, the letter demanded that India withdraw from the Bilateral Investment Treaty with Israel and cancel all defence cooperation and arms trade with the country.
It further urged the government to suspend the labour agreement that facilitates the replacement of Palestinian workers and to end all economic and diplomatic ties with Israel until it complies with international law and ends the occupation of Palestine and Gaza.
The signatories called on India to “reaffirm unconditional support for Palestinian self-determination in all bilateral relations and within the United Nations.”
They stated, “The resilience of Palestinians in the face of occupation inspires movements everywhere resisting exploitation and domination. Their struggle is not a distant one; it is our struggle too.”
They have urged the Indian government to withdraw from the treaty and cancel all defence cooperation and arms trade with Israel.
According to India’s Ministry of Finance, the BIT aims to “boost investments, provide greater certainty and protection for investors, facilitating the growth of trade and mutual investments by ensuring a minimum standard of treatment, and an independent dispute resolution mechanism through arbitration.”
The treaty was signed by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on September 8.
Rights groups termed the treaty as tantamount to endorsing apartheid and supporting Israel’s ongoing genocide of Palestinians in a letter addressed to the Indian government on September 13.
The letter, signed by organisations including the All India Youth Federation, People’s Union for Civil Liberties, Centre for Financial Accountability, Communist Party of India (ML), as well as activists, research scholars, and retired professors, emphasized that the treaty “promotes and protects private capital flows even as Israel continues its military siege and destruction of Gaza.”
“The treaty deepens economic ties with a regime that has long denied Palestinians the right to self-determination, entrenched occupation, and created a system of racial segregation through displacement and violence,” the letter stated.
It highlighted the dire situation in Gaza, stating, “Gaza has been reduced to rubble, its people, especially children, driven to hunger and denied medical aid. Meanwhile, occupation and attacks on the West Bank continue unabated.”
The letter further asserted that India’s defence cooperation with Israel is “inseparable from Israel’s assault on Palestine,” pointing out the role of the United States in sustaining Israel’s military dominance through unconditional “political, financial, and military support.”
It noted that India has intensified its defence trade with Israel in the last two years, becoming Israel’s single largest arms buyer while also exporting defence and surveillance technology.
“It has pressed ahead with a bilateral labour framework under which Indian workers are sent to Israel to replace Palestinians excluded from the labour market. This policy actively reinforces Israel’s attempt to erase Palestinian labour, a form of economic occupation that enforces apartheid through displacement,” the letter said.
In November 2023, India and Israel signed a Framework Agreement for the temporary employment of Indian workers in construction and nursing sectors in Israel. As of July this year, 6,774 Indian workers had gone to Israel for work under this agreement, the union government informed Parliament recently.
The letter also strongly criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi, accusing him of “duplicity” in his stances.
“India is deliberately choosing war, occupation, and apartheid over peace, self-determination, and equality. Its duplicity is evident: while Prime Minister Modi proclaims “this is not a time for war” on global platforms, his government supports a regime waging war against an occupied people. While claiming “strategic autonomy,” India continues to collaborate with countries that arm Israel,” the letter read.
It argued that supporting Israel today is tantamount to “supporting apartheid, occupation, racial segregation, and imperial domination,” and amounts to endorsing “an international order where the oppressed are subjugated to the interests of private capital and military power.”
The letter recalled India’s historical stance, noting that India was among the first countries to recognize Palestine in 1988, as part of its anti-colonial struggle and commitment to justice for all peoples.
Consequently, the letter demanded that India withdraw from the Bilateral Investment Treaty with Israel and cancel all defence cooperation and arms trade with the country.
It further urged the government to suspend the labour agreement that facilitates the replacement of Palestinian workers and to end all economic and diplomatic ties with Israel until it complies with international law and ends the occupation of Palestine and Gaza.
The signatories called on India to “reaffirm unconditional support for Palestinian self-determination in all bilateral relations and within the United Nations.”
They stated, “The resilience of Palestinians in the face of occupation inspires movements everywhere resisting exploitation and domination. Their struggle is not a distant one; it is our struggle too.”
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