The Foreign Minister of India, S. Jaishankar, will be visiting Israel over the weekend to shore up ties between the two strategic partners.
Union External Affairs Minister Dr. S Jaishankar will be on a three-day visit to Israel from October 19 to 21 in the first high-level engagement between Prime Minister Narendra Modi government and the Israeli government led by Naftali Bennett.
The External Affairs Minister will be halting for a day in Dubai and will hold a meeting with the leadership over the regional environment, including situations in Afghanistan and Central Asia.
The visit is expected to cement diplomatic and political ties between the two countries in the post-Benjamin Netanyahu era.
Jaishankar would meet the country’s top leaders during his visit, including President Isaac Herzog, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid.
The Welcoming Tweets
A Twitter post from Naor Gilon, Israel’s ambassador to India, read, “We are excited to receive @DrSJaishankar in Israel,”
Ambassador Alon Ushpiz, the Director-General of Israel’s foreign ministry, took to Twitter to wish the people of India on the occasion of Vijaya Dashami or Dussehra, which marks the triumph of good over evil.
He Twitted, “Shubho Bijoya/Happy Dussehra to all of you, on the eve of @DrSJaishankar’s important visit to Israel. India is a strategic partner and a very close friend”.
India Welcomed the Israeli Prime Minister
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to his Israeli counterpart, Bennett, in August. The two leaders agreed on the potential to expand cooperation further.
They decided that the two country’s foreign ministries would prepare a roadmap for further enriching the India-Israel strategic evolving partnership.
During a telephonic conversation, Modi reiterated his heartfelt congratulations to Bennett for assuming office as the Israeli Prime Minister in June.
Prime Minister Modi emphasized that India dramatically values its robust cooperation with Israel in agriculture, water, defense, security, and cyber-security.
Prime Minister Modi has also extended an invitation to Bennett to visit India as next year would be the 30th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations between India and Israel,
The India-Israel Diplomatic Ties
Israel and India established full-fledged diplomatic relations on January 29, 1992. However, even before that, Israel had a Consulate in Mumbai, operating since 1953.
Prime Minister Modi had visited Israel in July 2017, marking the first visit by an Indian prime minister in 70 long years.
India holds the position of the largest buyer of Israel’s military hardware. The latter has been supplying various weapon systems, missiles, and uncrewed aerial vehicles over the last few years, but the transactions have largely remained behind the curtains.
According to a note on the Indian foreign ministry website, cooperation between the two countries spans a broad spectrum—from agriculture and innovation to defense and security. Bilateral trade was about $5 billion in 2020-21.
Israeli companies have invested in India in renewable energy, real estate, water technologies and set up R&D centers and production units in India.
