Modi on Israel visit next week, says Bibi

“Who’s coming here next week? Narendra Modi. Tremendous alliance between Israel and India, and we are going to discuss all sorts of cooperation,” Netanyahu said while addressing the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organisations.

Highlighting India’s global weight, Netanyahu said India’s large population held a favourable view of Israel, adding that the country enjoyed significant popularity there.

Officials in New Delhi, however, have not formally announced the visit schedule. Diplomatic sources indicated the trip was likely to be brief — tentatively February 25-26 — but substantive, with Modi expected to address the Knesset. This would be PM Modi’s second visit to Israel after the landmark 2017 trip, the first ever by an Indian PM.

Talks are expected to focus on defence cooperation, advanced technology partnerships, agriculture innovation and counter-terror collaboration — key pillars of the expanding India-Israel strategic partnership. The visit comes amid a series of high-level exchanges over the past year, including visits to India by Israeli ministers and negotiations towards a free trade agreement following a bilateral investment treaty.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar visited Tel Aviv in December and met Netanyahu and senior Israeli leaders, while defence officials from both sides held a joint working group meeting to deepen industrial and technological cooperation, including artificial intelligence and cyber security.

Meanwhile, Congress’ Rajya Sabha MP Jairam Ramesh criticised the manner in which the visit became public, saying India had learnt of key diplomatic developments from foreign leaders before official announcements from its own government. He also referred to the ongoing Gaza conflict and Israeli actions in the West Bank while commenting on the disclosure.