Indian PM Modi to visit Israel Wednesday for second ever time
According to the Indian FM, the visit "will reaffirm the deep and long-standing strategic partnership between the two countries and will present an opportunity to review common challenges"
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will pay a state visit to Israel on Wednesday at the invitation of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to India’s foreign ministry and Netanyahu himself. The visit will mark Modi’s second trip to Israel.
During the two-day visit, Modi will meet Netanyahu to assess “the significant progress made in the India-Israel Strategic Partnership,” the Indian government said in a statement issued in New Delhi on Tuesday. The two leaders are expected to discuss further cooperation in science and technology, innovation, defense and security, agriculture, trade, and more.
Modi is also set to call on Israeli President Isaac Herzog.
According to the Indian foreign ministry, the visit “will reaffirm the deep and long-standing strategic partnership between the two countries and will present an opportunity to review the common challenges as well as realign efforts towards achieving their shared vision for a robust partnership between two resilient democracies.”
Modi’s first visit to Israel took place in 2017, the first ever by an Indian prime minister. i24NEWS will provide special coverage of the visit, including his address at the Knesset.
Speaking at the start of the weekly government meeting on Sunday, Netanyahu said, “On Wednesday, the Prime Minister of India, my friend Narendra Modi, will arrive in Israel.” He added, “In the vision that I see before my eyes, we will create a complete system of alliances around or within the Middle East. An axis of countries that see reality, challenges, and goals with one eye against the radical axes.”
Netanyahu described India as a “global power” and said the relationship between the two leaders has strengthened in recent years. “We are personal friends; we speak frequently on the phone, we visit each other, I visited India, and Modi visited here,” he said. “One thing happened - the fabric of relations has become tighter, and it will come here so that we can tighten it even more in a series of decisions related to tightening and cooperation between governments and between countries. Economic cooperation, political cooperation, and security cooperation.”
He said the visit will include a speech by Modi at the Knesset, an innovation event in Jerusalem, and a joint visit to Yad Vashem. Netanyahu also said the two sides will promote cooperation “in the fields of high-tech, in AI, and in quantum.”