The struggles for self-determination in the Indian-administered Kashmir, hereinafter Kashmir,[1] and Palestine are deeply intertwined with the historical and ongoing impacts of colonialism and settler colonialism. The injustices experienced by these regions are deeply entrenched in imperialism, systematic dispossession, and an abject failure of the United Nations to redress the human rights crisis. On the other hand, the relationship between India and Israel, their occupying powers, has continued to evolve in more than just a symbolic way. In recent years, they have deepened their strategic partnership, framing Kashmir and Palestine as cases of terrorism and sharing each other’s models for suppressing the revolts in favour of self-determination in these regions. In both India and Israel, official narratives frame Kashmiri and Palestinian resistance as terrorism, a rhetoric that justifies their suppression and crackdown. In both contexts, specific laws, such as Israel’s Nation-State Basic Law and India’s Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, after the abrogation of Article 370 of the Indian Constitution that accorded regional autonomy to Kashmir, explicitly serve the settler-colonial objectives of altering demographics and suppressing self-determination. In Israel, successive laws and court rulings have enabled settler activities such as land grabbing; Israeli officials routinely declare Palestinian lands as state lands, thereby prohibiting Palestinian possession of their own property. Within Israel, the 2018 Nation-State Basic Law explicitly classifies Israel as the nation-state for only the Jewish people, thereby omitting the indigenous and native Palestinian non-Jewish population, also eliminating any language of self-determination for the non-Jews. In India, similar changes and the introduction of laws have entrenched Kashmir into a forceful integration, inspired by the Israeli settler policies. While Article 370 and 35(A) of the Indian Constitution had barred non-natives of Kashmir from acquiring land or permanent residency in Kashmir, their abrogation in 2019 by the current BJP government removed the last flicker of hope for self-determination of Kashmiris and protection of their land and identity, opening Kashmir to settler violence amid full legal security and immunity. The new domicile regulations now allow non-natives, predominantly Indians, including security personnel and bureaucrats who served in Kashmir for the Indian government, to settle in Kashmir. To enable this, local land laws of Kashmir have been amended and/or scrapped to enact fresh laws that have legalised the allocation of thousands of acres of land for non-native settlers and military acquisition. The underlying aim is to alter the demography of Kashmir, which relegates the Kashmiri native population to a minority and removes any possibility of a future plebiscite as mandated by the United Nations Security Council Resolution 47 in 1948 or any upcoming resolutions.
More recently, India has demonstrated an increase in mirroring the Israeli rhetoric about strategies regarding terrorism and settler violence. This went as far as an Indian diplomat calling for the implementation of an ‘Israeli Model’ in Kashmir. The reference was towards settler colonialism, which is rampant in Palestine, and the aim was to mirror the settlement of Israeli settlers in Palestinian territories with the settlement of Hindus in Kashmir. Although the resettlement of Kashmiri Hindus should have been done decades ago, the underlying assumption was that terrorism prevented their resettlement. At the same time, however, non-natives have been granted domiciles and have started purchasing properties under state protection, raising more questions about India’s intentions. It seems that the Indian government has always exploited the exodus of the Kashmiri Hindu population in the 1990s, which was a result of armed insurgency against the Indian state, to further their Hindutva agenda in Kashmir. It is not hidden that Hindutva ideologues have always admired and taken inspiration from Zionism as a model of their ‘Akhand Bharat’ (Unified India), akin to the idea of ‘Greater Israel’, that disregards internationally recognised borders. This vision includes modern-day Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Tibet. It views them as a Hindu land on which other religions are an invading force. Furthermore, the current Indian government intends to incorporate Pakistan-administered Kashmir, also known as ‘Azad Kashmir’, as part of their longstanding manifesto to complete the annexation of the entire former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir. This also draws striking parallels to how Israel continues to pursue consolidation of control and occupation over Palestinian territories such as the West Bank and, more recently, Gaza.
India and Israel demonstrate ideological similarities and have also expanded their joint defence relationships. In November 2025, they signed a major Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to co-develop and co-produce advanced military equipment. Israel, on the other hand, has been India’s third-largest supplier of arms and military equipment such as drones, missiles, radars, and surveillance systems. Beyond the arms deals, these countries have also regularly convened joint military drills, intelligence sharing, and defence strategies. There have also been reports of Israeli agents participating in the interrogation of detainees in Kashmir and India’s implementation of Israeli advanced surveillance technology in Kashmir. This surveillance is common in both Kashmir and Palestine and has become a part of a larger in-place ‘state security’ paradigm that both Indian and Israeli governments promote. The practices of lockdown, curfews, and demolitions are shared between the states, such as Israel’s separation barriers and checkpoints across the Palestinian territories, and demolition of homes and lands, while Kashmir experiences heavy militarisation, curfews, lockdowns, Cordon and Search Operations, and property attachment, demolition to suppress any criticism or resistance against the Indian occupation.
On the international front, India’s stance on Israeli occupation of Palestine has also evidenced a shift. India, which has been one of the first non-Arab countries to recognise the state of Palestine, abstained from voting on the Gaza (Palestine) ceasefire resolution. The UN statements by India have always emphasised a two-state solution, like the majority of other states, but India has notably been absent in criticising Israel for its actions in Palestine, including Gaza, especially since October 7, 2023. While India welcomed the ceasefire in Gaza, it has refused to even name or condemn Israel’s renewed attacks on Gaza. This kind of diplomacy aligns perfectly with Israel’s interests, raising growing concerns that India no longer addresses the Palestinian issue as it once did. In response to the silence on Israeli occupation and atrocities committed against Palestinians, Israel has heaped praise on Indian democracy while justifying its occupation of Kashmir by stating that the Kashmir issue is an internal matter of India. While officially maintaining its support for Palestinian self-determination, India has deepened military sales and intelligence ties with Israel; reports indicate that much of the equipment used by Israeli forces in Gaza recently had parts, rockets, and other drone-related components manufactured and supplied by Indian companies.
Furthermore, India continues to heavily suppress and prohibit protests in favour of Palestinian resistance against Israeli occupation. Curtailing any domestic solidarity with Palestinians, in Kashmir, authorities have banned Palestinian flags and slogans, arresting citizens under anti-terror laws. The government has abandoned its stance on Palestine and now labels public support for Palestine as anti-state agitation and a threat to state security. Protesters have been jailed and subjected to terrorism and unlawful activities charges for merely waving Palestinian flags; religious clerics have even been threatened, not to mention Palestine or Gaza, in their sermons or prayers. These actions only demonstrate how India’s practices on the ground clash with its proclaimed stance on Palestine.
The growing relationship between the two occupiers, nuclear-powered occupiers, not only signals concern but also reeks of urgency that is required to evaluate how conflicts and cases of self-determination, like that of Palestine and Kashmir, have been handled. Addressing these colonial and settler-colonial conflicts requires more international solidarity that extends beyond mere condemnations. It has been seen how not only the West, which portrays itself as an epitome of democracy, but the Arab and the Asian world itself has been rather silent on any constructive action on Israel’s genocide in Gaza. This sets a dangerous example for conflicts like Kashmir, a situation that mirrors Palestine as a genuine case of self-determination. The fight for self-determination and human rights in Kashmir and Palestine demands efforts to challenge the narratives and actions of occupiers. While both India and Israel do face growing international criticism, with UN experts, civil society, and courts recognising these patterns as violations of human rights, akin to apartheid, the similarities between Hindutva and Zionist policies continue to bolster a strategic India-Israel alliance, through arms sales and surveillance technology, and also by promoting a shared model of control that the international community must view as collective punishment and disenfranchisement. Nonetheless, this India-Israel alliance signals a troubling future for the Indian-administered Kashmir.
[1] The issue addressed here is confined to the actions of the present Indian government in Indian-administered Kashmir and does not concern the Pakistan-administered Kashmir.