PM Modi to visit Israel on February 25-26
JERUSALEM: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to visit Israel on February 25 and 26, sources said on Monday. It will be his second trip to the country, the first being in 2017 which was also the first ever by an Indian Prime Minister to the Jewish state.
The announcement was first made by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during his address to the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organisations on Sunday.
“Parliament address on the anvil. Who’s coming here next week? Narendra Modi,” Netanyahu told the gathering, describing ties between the two nations as a “tremendous alliance”.
“There is a tremendous alliance between Israel and India, and we are going to discuss all sorts of cooperation. Now, you know, India is not a small country. It has 1.4 billion people. India is enormously powerful, enormously popular,” he said.
Netanyahu first broke news of Modi’s visit while addressing the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organisations.
While the programme around the visit is being worked out, PM Modi is expected to address the Israeli Knesset (parliament). Modi is likely to touch upon all issues of bilateral and regional interest during his two-day visit.
The high-profile visit of the Indian Prime Minister comes on the heels of several other high-level ministerial exchanges from both sides. Minister of Tourism Haim Katz, Minister of Economy and Industry Nir Barkat, Minister of Agriculture and Food Security Avi Dichter, and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich visited India last year as the strategic partners built up momentum to sign a Free Trade Agreement (FTA).
The two countries signed a Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) during Smotrich’s visit and then a Terms of Reference (TOR) leading to FTA during the visit of Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal to Israel in November.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar visited Israel in December when he called upon Netanyahu, President Isaac Herzog, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar and Barkat.
In November, India and Israel inked a landmark agreement to enhance defence, industrial, and technological cooperation, enabling the sharing of advanced technology to promote co-development and co-production.
The Joint Working Group (JWG) of Israel and India met in Tel Aviv in November for their annual meeting, led by the Israel Ministry of Defence (IMOD) Director General Maj. Gen. (Res.) Amir Baram and Indian Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh.
Separately, a special panel was held with the CEOs of major defence industries, during which innovative and groundbreaking Israeli technologies were presented, along with ideas and projects aimed at deepening industrial-defence partnerships between Israel’s defence industries and India.
PM Modi’s first visit to Israel in 2017 marked a turning point in bilateral relations, which have since broadened across several sectors.
Defence ties have grown steadily over the years. India is among Israel’s leading arms importers, acquiring advanced systems including the Spike anti-tank guided missile. Cooperation has also expanded into agriculture, water management, cybersecurity and innovation.
The announcement, however, drew criticism from the Congress party. Senior leader Jairam Ramesh questioned the manner in which the visit became public, saying India had learned of it from Netanyahu’s remarks.
In a post on X, Ramesh also referred to recent instances where, he said, key developments involving India were first disclosed by US officials. with agency inputs
