PM Modi jets-off to Israel on a two-day visit
after 2017
Prime Minister embarks on a two-day visit to Israel on Wednesday 25 February. He touched down at the Ben Gurion international airport outside Tel Aviv at 12:45pm local time (10:45 GMT).
He was welcomed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is as he did amidst the Indian premier’s 2017 visit. The two leaders held talks thereafter.
Notedly, India was among the countries that opposed the creation of Israel and for decades was one of the most forceful
non-Arab critics of Israel’s policies towards Palestinians. It only established diplomatic ties with Israel in 1992, but since 2014, when Modi came to power, relations amid the two countries have flourished.
At 4:30pm (14:30 GMT), Modi addresssed the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem. He then returns to Tel Aviv for the night.
On the morning of February 26, Modi is scheduled to visit the Yad Vashem museum, a memorial to Holocaust victims, before meeting Israeli President Isaac Herzog. Modi and Netanyahu will then meet again and oversee the signing of agreements between the two countries, before Modi departs Israel in the afternoon.
Overall, Modi and Netanyahu aim to use this visit to bolster strategic economic and defence agreements between India and Israel, officials from both sides have said.
“We don’t compete, we rather complement each other,” JP Singh, India’s ambassador to Israel, told state broadcaster All India Radio on Monday, speaking of relations with Israel. “Israel is really good at innovation, science and technology. Therefore, there will be a lot of discussion on AI, cybersecurity and quantum.”
The two countries signed a new Bilateral Investment Treaty in September last year, replacing the 1996 investment treaty, to provide “certainty and protection” to investors from both countries. They are also aiming to upgrade existing bilateral security agreements at this meeting.
News Editor KV Raman
