Jerusalem: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will travel to Israel on a two-day visit from February 25 to 26, sources said Monday.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu first broke news of Modi’s visit while addressing 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.
“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 stressed.
A source here told PTI that PM Modi’s visit is ‘likely to be short from February 25 to 26″, but “its impact is deep given the popularity Modi enjoys not only in Israel but around the world”.
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.
This would be his second visit to Israel, the first being in July 2017, which was also the first ever by an Indian Prime Minister to the Jewish state.
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.
“This strategic dialogue with India takes place at a critical juncture for both countries. Our strategic partnership is based on deep mutual trust and shared security interests. We view India as a first-rate strategic partner and are determined to continue deepening cooperation in the fields of defence, technology, and industry,” Baram had said after the meeting.
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.
A wide range of areas for cooperation have been identified in the agreement that will benefit both countries. Important areas include joint planning, training, defence industrial cooperation, and capabilities including Science & Technology, Research & Development, Technological Innovation, Artificial Intelligence and Cyber Security cooperation,” a defence source told PTI.
“It will enable sharing of advanced technology and would help promote co-development and co-production”, he said.
The teams had also deliberated on various issues of common concern, including shared challenges of terrorism.
