{"id":309044,"date":"2026-02-25T06:42:13","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T06:42:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/309044\/"},"modified":"2026-02-25T06:42:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T06:42:13","slug":"indias-modi-visits-israel-whats-on-the-agenda-and-why-it-matters-international-trade-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/309044\/","title":{"rendered":"India\u2019s Modi visits Israel: What\u2019s on the agenda, and why it matters | International Trade News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will begin a two-day visit to Israel<\/a> on Wednesday. Modi\u2019s first trip to Israel was in 2017, when he was the first Indian leader to ever visit the country.<\/p>\n

India was among the countries that opposed the creation of Israel in 1948, and for decades was one of the most forceful non-Arab critics of Israel\u2019s policies towards Palestinians. It only established diplomatic ties with Israel in 1992, but since 2014, when Modi came to power, relations between the two countries have flourished.<\/p>\n

Here is more about what is on the agenda for Modi\u2019s visit, and why it is significant.<\/p>\n

Who will Modi meet, and what will they talk about?<\/p>\n

Modi is expected to land at the Ben Gurion international airport outside Tel Aviv at 12:45pm local time (10:45 GMT).<\/p>\n

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to welcome Modi at the airport, as he did during the Indian premier\u2019s 2017 visit. The two leaders are scheduled to hold talks shortly after.<\/p>\n

Then, at 4:30pm (14:30 GMT), Modi is scheduled to address the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem. He then returns to Tel Aviv for the night.<\/p>\n

On the morning of February 26, Modi is scheduled to visit the Yad Vashem museum, a memorial to Holocaust victims, before meeting Israeli President Isaac Herzog. Modi and Netanyahu will then meet again and oversee the signing of agreements between the two countries, before Modi departs Israel in the afternoon.<\/p>\n

Overall, Modi and Netanyahu aim to use this visit to bolster strategic economic and defence agreements between India and Israel, officials from both sides have said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t compete, we rather complement each other,\u201d JP Singh, India\u2019s ambassador to Israel, told state broadcaster All India Radio on Monday, speaking of relations with Israel. \u201cIsrael is really good at innovation, science and technology. Therefore, there will be a lot of discussion on AI, cybersecurity and quantum.\u201d<\/p>\n

The two countries signed a new Bilateral Investment Treaty in September last year, replacing the 1996 investment treaty, to provide \u201ccertainty and protection\u201d to investors from both countries. They are also aiming to upgrade existing bilateral security agreements at this meeting.<\/p>\n

In a video posted on the Israeli Embassy\u2019s social media channels on Monday, Israel\u2019s ambassador to India, Reuven Azar, said: \u201cOur economic partnership is gaining real momentum. We signed a bilateral investment treaty, and we are moving forward to sign a free trade agreement, hopefully this year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Azar said that Israel wants to encourage Indian infrastructure companies to come to Israel to build and invest in the country.<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cWe will deepen our defence relationship by updating our security agreements.\u201d<\/p>\n

In an X post of his own on Sunday, Netanyahu wrote that he is looking forward to greeting Modi in Jerusalem.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are partners in innovation, security, and a shared strategic vision. Together, we are building an axis of nations committed to stability and progress,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom AI to regional cooperation, our partnership continues to reach new heights,\u201d Netanyahu added.<\/p>\n

How are India-Israel relations?<\/p>\n

Relations between India and Israel have improved exponentially<\/a> over the years. While still under British rule in the 1920s and 1930s, India strongly identified with the Palestinian struggle for independence.<\/p>\n

In 1917, the United Kingdom signed the Balfour Declaration, promising Jews who had been displaced from Europe due to Adolf Hitler\u2019s oppression a homeland in the British Mandate in Palestine. This was opposed by many nations, including India, which was fighting British colonialism at the time.<\/p>\n

\u201cPalestine belongs to the Arabs in the same sense that England belongs to the English, or France to the French,\u201d Mahatma Gandhi, India\u2019s most prominent freedom fighter who is revered as the father of the nation, wrote in an article in his weekly newspaper Harijan on November 26, 1938.<\/p>\n

India was among the nations opposed to the creation of Israel in 1948. In 1949, India also voted against Israel\u2019s UN membership. While it recognised Israel as a state in 1950, it was not until 1992 that the two formalised diplomatic relations, and economic relations gradually grew over the following two decades.<\/p>\n

Since Modi became India\u2019s leader in 2014, there has been a major shift<\/a> in the relationship between India and Israel. Nine years ago, Modi was the first Indian prime minister ever to visit Israel.<\/p>\n

India is currently Israel\u2019s second-largest trading partner in Asia, after China. According to India\u2019s Ministry of External Affairs, trade jumped from $200m in 1992 to $6.5bn in 2024.<\/p>\n

India\u2019s main exports to Israel include pearls, precious stones, automotive diesel, chemicals, machinery, and electrical equipment; imports include petroleum, chemical machinery and transport equipment.<\/p>\n

Azad Essa, a senior reporter at Middle East Eye and author of the 2023 book Hostile Homelands: The New Alliance Between India and Israel, told Al Jazeera that Modi\u2019s visit to Israel shows how far India\u2019s relations with Israel have evolved over the past decade.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhereas a partnership existed, it was a lot more limited prior to Modi. [New] Delhi has now emerged as Israel\u2019s strongest non-Western ally, so much so that it is now considered a \u2018special relationship\u2019, rooted in strategic cooperation and ideological convergence,\u201d Essa said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis visit will be Netanyahu\u2019s opportunity to offer appreciation to Modi, and will be used by him to show Israelis that he is a well-respected and popular leader in the Global South.\u201d<\/p>\n

Under Modi, India has become Israel\u2019s top arms customer. And in 2024, during Israel\u2019s genocidal war on Gaza, Indian arms firms supplied Israel with rockets and explosives, according to an Al Jazeera investigation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Modi\u2019s\u00a0Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) envisions India as a Hindu homeland, echoing Israel\u2019s self-image<\/a> as a Jewish state. Both India and Israel frame \u201cIslamic terrorism\u201d as a key threat, a label critics say is used to justify wider anti-Muslim policies.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe alliance between India and Israel is not just about weapon sales or trade. It is about India\u2019s open embrace of authoritarianism and militarism in building a supremacist state in Israel\u2019s image,\u201d Essa said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is also a story about how security, nationalism and democratic language can be used to justify and normalise increasingly illiberal policies, and this has implications for democracies everywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

Why is this visit significant?<\/p>\n

Modi\u2019s visit comes at a time of rising and complex geopolitical tensions in and around the Middle East.<\/p>\n

Despite the warm relations between the two countries in recent decades, Modi\u2019s trip comes just a week after India joined more than 100 countries in condemning Israel\u2019s de facto expansion in the occupied West Bank. New Delhi signed the statement on February 18 \u2013 a day later than most \u2013 after initially appearing hesitant.<\/p>\n

This week, Netanyahu claimed that he plans to form a new regional bloc of countries, which he termed a \u201chexagon\u201d alliance<\/a>, to stand against \u201cradical\u201d Sunni and Shia-majority nations.<\/p>\n

On Sunday, Netanyahu said this alliance would include Israel, India, Greece and Cyprus, along with other unnamed Arab, African and Asian states. None of these governments has officially endorsed this plan, including India.<\/p>\n

Analysts said Modi\u2019s visit will be viewed by many as an endorsement of Israeli policies, however.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe timing of the visit is notable because it comes at a time when Netanyahu has lost immense credibility around the world, and to have the leader of the world\u2019s so-called largest democracy visiting Israel and showing affection to Netanyahu, who has a warrant in his name from the International Criminal Court, is a ringing endorsement of him and Israel\u2019s policies,\u201d Essa said.<\/p>\n

Modi\u2019s visit also comes at a time of heightened tensions between Iran and the United States.<\/p>\n

India and Iran have long had a cooperative relationship. After Modi visited Iran in 2016, the two countries signed a major deal, allowing India to develop the strategically located port of Chabahar on Iran\u2019s southeastern coast. However, after the US imposed additional sanctions on Iran last year and threatened to penalise all countries that do business with Tehran, India has reportedly started moving out of Chabahar.<\/p>\n

In June 2025, India did not join<\/a> the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation\u2019s (SCO\u2019s) condemnation of Israel\u2019s attacks on Iran during the 12-day war<\/a> between Iran and Israel. However, it did join a later condemnation by the BRICS grouping of major emerging economies of the Israeli and US attacks on Iran.<\/p>\n

The US, which has been applying its own pressure on India over the past year in retaliation for its purchase of Russian oil, is building up<\/a> a vast array of military assets in the Arabian Sea, close to Iran, as President Donald Trump increases pressure on Iran to agree to a deal<\/a> over its nuclear programme and stock of ballistic missiles.<\/p>\n

Trump said last Friday that he was considering a limited strike<\/a> on Iran if Tehran does not reach a deal with the US. \u201cI guess I can say I am considering that,\u201d he told reporters.<\/p>\n

Iran has said it is seeking a diplomatic solution, but will defend itself if Washington resorts to military action.<\/p>\n

Israel will likely be a front-line participant in any escalation that might follow from US strikes or Iranian retaliation, analysts say.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will begin a two-day visit to Israel on Wednesday. Modi\u2019s first trip to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":309045,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[337,5697,1155,85,207,2682,46,44,47,20065,43,48,238,52],"class_list":{"0":"post-309044","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-israel","8":"tag-asia","9":"tag-explainer","10":"tag-human-rights","11":"tag-il","12":"tag-india","13":"tag-international-trade","14":"tag-israel","15":"tag-israel-palestine-conflict","16":"tag-middle-east","17":"tag-narendra-modi","18":"tag-news","19":"tag-palestine","20":"tag-politics","21":"tag-protests"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/309044","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=309044"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/309044\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/309045"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=309044"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=309044"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=309044"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}