India’s Modi in Israel to ‘strengthen cooperation’

JERUSALEM Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi kicked off a two-day visit to Israel on Wednesday aimed at focusing on strengthening security, economic and technological cooperation between the two countries.

The Indian leader stepped out of the plane beaming and descended the staircase to a big hug from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, accompanied by his wife, Sara Netanyahu.

The warm greeting underscored how much closer Israel-India relations have grown under Modi, whose embrace of Israel has marked a shift in India’s foreign policy.

India has historically supported the Palestinians, and did not establish full diplomatic ties with Israel until 1992.

Netanyahu’s office released a statement lauding the leaders’ “close personal relationship” and “deep and long-standing friendship” in a welcome message.

The visit is likely to give Israel a boost of international support after seeing relations with many of its allies deteriorate since the war in Gaza began in October 2023.

Modi was to hold talks with Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog, address the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, and visit the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial center. Netanyahu’s office said that the two leaders would sign myriad economic, security and political cooperation agreements.

“Our nations share a robust and multifaceted Strategic Partnership,” Modi wrote on X before landing in Tel Aviv. “Ties have significantly strengthened in the last few years.”

In addition to being a powerful ally, India is also Israel’s No. 2 trading partner in Asia. Total trade between India and Israel was valued at $3.62 billion in the 2025 fiscal year, according to India’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

Modi became India’s first prime minister to travel to Israel in 2017, and Netanyahu reciprocated with a trip to India the following year.

Netanyahu told a Cabinet meeting on Sunday that economic and security issues will be high on the leaders’ agenda, as will sharing technology, including artificial intelligence and quantum computing.

Partners in innovation

“We are partners in innovation, security, and a shared strategic vision,” Netanyahu said on the social platform X ahead of Modi’s arrival. “Together, we are building an axis of nations committed to stability and progress.”

A staunch Hindu nationalist, Modi was one of the first global leaders to swiftly express solidarity with Israel following the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by the Palestinian militant Hamas group that triggered the war in Gaza.

India was also among more than 100 countries earlier this month to condemn Israel’s newly approved measures to deepen its control over the occupied West Bank and weaken the already limited powers of the Palestinian Authority.

In September 2023, grand plans were unveiled in New Delhi for an India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor - to link railways, ports, electricity, data networks and pipelines, including through Saudi Arabia and Israel.

Those plans were stalled by Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel, which responded with a devastating war in the Gaza Strip.

‘Shock and horror’

“What happened on October 7 was received in India with shock and horror, and which is why the support for Israel was quick, instantaneous, and enormous,” said Ashok Malik, head of New Delhi-based strategic advisory firm The Asia Group.

India-Israel ties, which Modi is “taking forward with this visit”, stem not only from strategic alignment on issues such as terrorism, he added.

“Israel has a lot to contribute in terms of innovation technology, including agriculture, technology, and economic partnerships and of course defence... This is quite independent of the Palestinian issue,” Malik said.

Months after his 2017 visit to Israel, Modi travelled to Ramallah, seat of the Palestinian Authority.

His current visit, however, has sparked criticism at home.

Senior Congress party figure Priyanka Gandhi - sister of opposition leader Rahul - posted on social media on Wednesday that she hoped Modi would mention the killing of “thousands of innocent men, women and children in Gaza” when he addresses Israel’s parliament.

India, the world’s most populous nation with 1.4 billion people, is majority Hindu, but an estimated 220 million Indians are Muslim.

One of India’s largest conglomerates, Adani Group, operates the Israeli port of Haifa, while Israeli military drone technology played a pivotal role during India’s May 2025 clash with Pakistan.

At the same time, India maintains strong relations with Gulf nations and Tehran, including developing Iran’s Chabahar port - a trade gateway to Afghanistan, where New Delhi has built a relationship with Taliban authorities.