Lauren Dagan Amoss

India, the world's largest democracy, was released from the reigns of British colonialism in the mid-twentieth century and like others was confronted with considerable domestic and foreign challenges. The cultural, religious and class divides in India fed into complex foreign relations with her neighbors in the South Asian region. In the last few decades, India has exerted itself more so than in the past in the international arena and therefore has the potential to influence the Middle-East at large and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in particular.  At the base of this research is the examination of the causes that shaped and impelled India's foreign policy towards the Middle-East, and particulary towards Israel, since 1947, the year of India's Independence, up until 2016, the peak of Narendra Modi's government (from the BJP - Bharatiya Janata Party). In order to do so, the research will investigate the multiple aspects of India's policy towards both the West and Islam within this timeframe.