PM Modi Lands In Israel, Signals Deeper Growing Strategic Ties Amid Regional Flux

Expectedly, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife were there to personally welcome Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he landed in Israel on a two-day visit. The mood was celebratory as Modi and Netanyahu greeted each other. The next few hours will showcase not just the bromance between Modi and Netanyahu but the growing strategic alignment between India and Israel. 

The BJP and particularly Modi is a great friend of Israel, and was the first Indian PM to set foot on Israeli soil in 2017. He is returning at a time when much of the Global South has distanced itself from Israel over the Gaza war. For Netanyahu, the visit of the Indian leader breaks the narrative of Israel’s isolation from the Global South.

"I will be undertaking a State Visit to Israel today and tomorrow. 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. I will also meet President Isaac Herzog, President of Israel,’’ the PM said in a statement ahead of his visit to Israel.

Prime Minister Modi will have the rare honour of addressing the Knesset, or the Israeli parliament, to speak directly to lawmakers. This is a singular honour and underlies the trust and growing closeness between the two countries. There is only a clutch of world leaders who have done so. Many US presidents have addressed Parliament; Egypt’s Anwar Sadat did so since Cairo was the first major Arab nation to recognise Israel and have full diplomatic relations. Argentine President Javier Milei was also accorded that honour. Argentina has long standing ties with Israel. Donald Trump addressed the Israeli Parliament last year after the Gaza ceasefire deal.

Bilateral agenda

Modi-Netanyahu talks are slated for Thursday when some agreement and MoUs are expected to be signed. Not much is known about them except that defence, trade and technology will be on the agenda. India already buys military equipment from Israel. Chances of expanding the list of sophisticated air defence items are high.  “The defence agreement is expected to expand the categories of military cooperation open to India, with Israeli officials indicating it could include access to advanced air defence systems – potentially Israel’s laser-based Iron Beam platform,’’ according to a report in the Jerusalem Post. India will look to access advanced military systems and tech ecosystems from Israel. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute(SIPRI) that keeps a tab on weapon sales across the world, had reported that between 2020-2024 India was the largest single importer of Israeli arms and that India accounts for 34 per cent of Israeli exports in that period.

 A free trade agreement between the two countries is also on the cards by the end of the year. Commerce minister Piyush Goyal was in Israel last November to kick-off negotiations on the FTA. The two leaders are likely to touch on the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) concept, first announced at the G20 in 2023. But that will take some time to get off the ground. The I2U2 group of India, Israel, the US and the UAE, announced in 2022 to boost economic cooperation, technological innovation, and regional stability has also been a slow starter.

Diplomatic Ties

Full diplomatic ties between New Delhi and Tel Aviv were established in January 1992, when PV Narasimha Rao was in power. Relations improved gradually but gathered fresh momentum after Modi took office in 2014, with defence cooperation, intelligence sharing and high-technology partnerships forming the backbone of the relationship.

India already buys advanced drones, radars and other defence equipment from Israel . Yet the changing power dynamic in the region also poses problems for India. Since the Gaza war, Israel has emerged as the most powerful military power in the area. With Hezbollah destroyed, the Hamas leadership wiped out, Iran at its weakest and most vulnerable point with US President Donald Trump readying for another military strike on Iran, there is growing apprehension among the Arab powers like Saudi Arabia that Israel has become the regional overlord. Saudi Arabia’s powerful Crown Prince, Mohammad bin Salman, once eager to normalise relations with Israel, is now no longer keen. More so because the kingdom’s relations with the UAE have turned sour, and the Emirates is seen as a close ally of Israel.  Though Riyadh wraps up its reluctance to sign the Abraham Accord in rhetoric for a fair deal for Gaza and the two-state solution for Palestine, at heart is the rivalry between two former friendly nations.

A UAE-Israel-India axis is taking shape amid the flux in West Asia. The outreach to Israel comes with delicate trade-offs. India has cultivated robust ties with all the Gulf Arab states where between eight to nine million Indians live and work and  send back vital remittances from across the Gulf sheikdoms. India has to maintain a delicate balance and cannot afford to antagonise Saudi Arabia and the rest of the Arab world as it navigates a turbulent region where Israel is emerging as a major power and disliked by the Arab masses.