Mumbai: Israel plans to expand its bilateral defence agreement with India to share its technology and manufacture military hardware in India, as well as extend the cooperation to the latest Iron Dome and other defence systems, Israeli Consul General to Midwest India Yaniv Revach said on Monday.
In an exclusive interview with IANS ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Israel, Revach said, “Prime Minister Netanyahu specifically said that one of the aspects of this visit is defence cooperation, and we try to promote and to upgrade the defence cooperation with India, definitely.”
“First of all, we have an ongoing defence cooperation, very unique and strong between the two states, because of the mutual challenges that we’re both facing. Now, during this specific visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, we plan to expand this agreement to focus on specific topics, for example, manufacturing here in India, defence cooperation, and also cooperation regarding the Iron Dome and other defence systems in Israel that we can actually share the technology with our partners here in India,” Revach explained.
He further stated that to tackle the radical axis, Israel is keen to establish a different axis with India, the states of the Abraham Accords, some African nations, and countries in the Middle East, including Cyprus and Greece.
“And I think it’s very important that Prime Minister Modi will visit Israel this week try to promote this initiative,” he added.
The Consul General also said, “The summit is very important very important because once you see the two leaders meet together and try to promote this agenda and specifically promote a few resolutions to strengthen the ties between the two countries in so many fields, I think it will go down to the private sector, to the companies, to try also to promote cooperation.”
Meanwhile, Israel’s Ambassador to India, Reuven Azar, said on Monday that Israel is excited to welcome Prime Minister Narendra Modi this week, noting that the two nations will move forward decisively during his visit.
In a video shared on X, Azar stated, “Namaste, this is an exciting moment for India-Israel relations. We are looking forward to welcoming Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Israel. Now, when India and Israel come together, it’s never just a meeting. It’s a partnership built on trust, powered by innovation, and guided by a clear understanding of the challenges of our time. During this visit, we will move forward decisively.”
(IANS)
