NEW DELHI: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Israel on Wednesday for a two-day trip aimed at boosting their strategic partnership.
It marks his second visit to Israel after his inaugural trip in 2017, when he became the first Indian leader to ever visit the country.
Modi is scheduled to address the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, on Wednesday evening, which will make him the first Indian premier to do so. He will also hold talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog.
“Our nations share a robust and multifaceted strategic partnership. Ties have significantly strengthened in the last few years. I will be holding talks with PM Netanyahu, in which we will discuss ways to strengthen cooperation across diverse fields,” he said in a statement.
“I am confident that my state visit will further consolidate the enduring bonds between the two countries, set new goals for the strategic partnership, and advance our shared vision for a resilient, innovative and prosperous future.”
Modi and Netanyahu are expected to discuss cooperation in science and technology, innovation, agriculture, water management, technology, defense and security, trade and investment, as well as people-to-people ties.
India and Israel established diplomatic relations in 1992, with ties upgraded to a strategic partnership in 2017.
India witnessed a major shift in ties with Israel since Modi took office in 2014, as Delhi gradually moved away from its historic support for Palestine, an important part of India’s foreign policy for decades.
While still under British rule in the 1920s and 1930s, India strongly identified with the Palestinian struggle for independence and was among the nations that opposed the creation of Israel in 1948.
But today, India is Israel’s largest arms buyer and second-largest trading partner in Asia, after China. Cooperation has also expanded in other fields, including health and agriculture.
New Delhi has largely remained quiet since Israel launched its assault on Gaza in October 2023. The war in the Palestinian enclave has killed more than 71,000 Palestinians and injured over 171,000 others.
“Ever since the Modi government came to power, they made it very clear that they’re not at all interested in the Palestinian issue. They just give some lip service and money, and even the lip service has become much less frequent,” Prof. Achin Vanaik, political scientist and former professor of international relations at the University of Delhi, told Arab News.
“This government, for both ideological and what it considers to be strategic reasons, is solidly aligned with Israel.”
Modi’s visit to Israel this week sparked concerns among the main opposition party and civil society members, many of whom have been calling the government to act against Israeli atrocities in Gaza and demanding a stop to its arms deal with Israel.
The Indian government’s stance on Israel “doesn’t reflect the position which is historically taken by Indians, particularly as people living in a postcolonial country who have identified with the Palestinian cause,” said Sreeja Donti Reddy, a member of the Indian People in Solidarity with Palestine movement.
“(The) relationship with Israel has only become closer because (the government is) trying to engage the business and trade between the two countries for the benefit of the Indian capital,” she told Arab News.
Priyanka Gandhi, a lawmaker from the opposition Congress party, and the daughter of former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and sister of Rahul Gandhi — leader of the opposition — called on Modi to demand justice for Palestinians in Gaza.
“I hope that the Hon. Prime Minister @narendramodi mentions the genocide of thousands of innocent men, women and children in Gaza while addressing the Knesset on his upcoming trip to Israel and demands justice for them,” she said online.
“India has stood for what is right throughout our history as an independent nation, we must continue to show the light of truth, peace and justice to the world.”
