India's army chief in Israel to talk defense ties
Gen. Manoj Mukund Naravane on first official visit to Jewish state since taking office in 2019
India's Chief of Army Staff Gen. Manoj Mukund Naravane arrived in Israel on Sunday for a five-day visit "to further strengthen strategic defense cooperation between both countries," the Indian Army said in a Twitter post.
The visit to the Jewish state to meet with senior military officials is the first since Naravane took office in 2019.
He is scheduled to meet with Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Aviv Kohavi and visit the army’s Ground Forces headquarters.
“The Army Chief will take forward the excellent bilateral defense cooperation between Israel and India through multiple meetings with senior officials of the security establishment and exchange views on various defense-related issues,” the Indian military said in a statement.
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The visit comes after two other high-profile visits from Israel's South Asian ally: Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and Indian Defense Secretary Ajay Kumar.
During Kumar's visit, Israel and India agreed to set up a task force to build a comprehensive 10-year plan to identify new areas of defense collaboration.
India is Israel's largest arms client, accounting for 43 percent of the total amount dealt, according to a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).