Diplomacy

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In Historic First, Indian PM Modi to Visit Israel

Narendra Modi, who was elected prime minister of India last year, will be the first Indian leader to visit Israel, The Times of India reported today.

Narendra Modi will be the first Indian prime minister to travel to Israel, a visit that will finally bring one of the world’s close relationships out of the closet. While dates for the trip are yet to be fixed, foreign minister Sushma Swaraj announced she would visit Israel later this year, along with Palestine and Jordan….

India recognized Israel in 1950 but soon after voted against it in the UN. Diplomatic ties were established by Narasimha Rao’s government in 1991, though there had been some unofficial contacts earlier, as in the famous visits by Moshe Dayan….

Ariel Sharon was the first Israeli PM to visit India in 2003, but there have been no high-level visits from India since. Former Israeli president Shimon Peres visited India, but in the past decade, while the real relationship progressed quickly, it was only former foreign minister S M Krishna who travelled to Jerusalem.

The Times observed that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is one of the few world leaders that Modi refers to as “my friend,” and that Netanyahu was the only world leader who had a bilateral meeting with Modi last year at the United Nations General Assembly.

The Times of Israel added:

The Modi trip would culminate a steady improvement in bilateral ties since Israel and India formalized full diplomatic relations in 1992.

However, it would not be the Indian politician’s first time in Israel; Modi visited Israel during his term as chief minister of Gurajat province, a position he held from 2001 to 2014. …

In February Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon met Modi in Delhi, marking a new phase in which previously hushed-up defense deals between the countries were brought out into the open. Israel and India have also signed recent deals on agriculture and cyber-security projects.

The Times of Israel also pointed out that improving ties with Israel was one of Modi’s foreign policy priorities.

Modi’s election was hailed as the beginning of closer ties between the two countries. Even before his election, trade between India and Israel exceeded $6 billion annually. Last fall, a number of missile deals were announced between the two countries. Israel and India are jointly developing the Barak-8 surface-to-air missile. Two Indian IT giants, Tech Mahindra and Infosys, have expanded their operations in Israel. While visiting Israel last month, Davendra Fadnavis, chief minister of the Indian state of Maharashtra, praised Israeli agricultural technology for enabling his state to improve its crop yields.

[Photo: IsraeliPM / YouTube ]