Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi likes to say that he is married to politics. It is obvious that he has an agenda of Hinduism before all else, and he has no shame in implementing it. The enormous support that he got in the July election for India’s parliament encouraged him to take vigorous steps toward that goal. Last week, for instance, he led an effort in the Indian legislature to repeal the Indian Constitution's Article 370, which has granted autonomy to the state of Jammu and Kashmir since the creation of India and Pakistan back in 1947.

I am reminded of a working visit to India in the summer of 1993, when I was deputy foreign minister. The visit took place just one year after Israel and India established diplomatic relations, and the ministry was well prepared. I still could not say anything about the secret Oslo process, but I did prepare myself for conversations about how Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin’s government was committed to reaching a peace agreement with the Palestinians and Syrians. I assumed it would be the main topic of all of the talks.

At a meeting just before my departure, I was told by senior ministry staff that the most important issue for the Indians was our position on Kashmir. I grinned and asked them, “What exactly do I think about Kashmir?” I was told that Israel supports the Simla Agreement of 1972, and that it was unlikely that I would have reason to say anything else. I did remember that there was such an agreement, but I couldn’t recall exactly what it said. One of the participants pulled out a copy and handed it to me. Upon reading the agreement between India and Pakistan, I could find no reason to challenge the experts’ position.

When I landed in India, I was greeted by a sea of journalist and countless TV cameras. I was a bit surprised that they were waiting for me, but I was ready to tell them about the progress we were making to advance the diplomatic process in the Middle East in the context of the 1991 Madrid Conference. But before I even opened my mouth, I was pummeled with questions — actually, just one question: What is the Rabin government’s position on Kashmir?