{"id":309610,"date":"2026-02-25T14:33:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T14:33:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/309610\/"},"modified":"2026-02-25T14:33:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T14:33:07","slug":"why-indian-pm-modis-israel-visit-matters-for-pakistans-security-india-pakistan-tensions-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/309610\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Indian PM Modi\u2019s Israel visit matters for Pakistan\u2019s security | India-Pakistan Tensions News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Islamabad, Pakistan \u2013\u00a0When Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi stepped off the plane<\/a> in Tel Aviv on Wednesday for his second visit to Israel, and the first by any Indian premier since his own landmark trip in 2017, the symbolism was unmistakable.<\/p>\n

He was given a red-carpet welcome by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a head of government who is facing an International Criminal Court arrest warrant and prosecuting a war in Gaza that much of the world has condemned as genocide.<\/p>\n

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Yet Modi\u2019s visit signalled not hesitation, but a wholehearted endorsement to expand India\u2019s strategic embrace of Israel.<\/p>\n

Days before his arrival, Netanyahu announced at a cabinet meeting what he described as a \u201chexagon of alliances\u201d<\/a>, a proposed regional framework placing India at its centre alongside Greece, Cyprus and unnamed Arab, African and Asian states<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Its declared purpose was to counter what he called \u201cradical axes, both the radical Shia axis, which we have struck very hard, and the emerging radical Sunni axis\u201d.<\/p>\n

In a region where Turkiye\u2019s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been among Israel\u2019s most outspoken critics, and where Saudi Arabia and Pakistan formalised a Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement in September 2025 \u2013<\/a> all three Sunni-majority nations \u2013 the outline of what Tel Aviv may view as this \u201caxis\u201d is not difficult to discern.<\/p>\n

Against that backdrop, India\u2019s deepening alignment with Israel directly impacts \u2013 and could reshape \u2013 Islamabad\u2019s strategic calculus in an already volatile region, say analysts.<\/p>\n

Expanding defence and technology ties<\/p>\n

The India-Israel relationship has accelerated sharply since Modi\u2019s 2017 visit<\/a>. India is now Israel\u2019s largest arms customer, and the agenda this week spans defence, artificial intelligence, quantum computing and cybersecurity.<\/p>\n

A new classified framework is expected to open exports from Israel of previously restricted military hardware to India. Among the systems reportedly under discussion is Israel\u2019s Iron Beam, a 100kW-class high-energy laser weapon inducted into the Israeli army in December 2025. Cooperation on Iron Dome missile defence technology transfer for local manufacturing is also under consideration.<\/p>\n

For Masood Khan, Pakistan\u2019s former ambassador to both the United States and the United Nations, the visit marks a decisive moment.<\/p>\n

\u201cNews coming out suggests they are going to sign a special strategic agreement, one that could be seen as a counterpart to the agreement signed by Pakistan and Saudi Arabia last year,\u201d he said. \u201cIsrael already has such special agreements with countries like the US and Germany.\u201d<\/p>\n

Masood Khalid, a former Pakistani ambassador to China, pointed to this military dimension.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe saw how Israeli drones worked in the India-Pakistan conflict against us last year,\u201d he said, referring to India\u2019s use of Israeli-origin platforms during the May 2025 strikes against Pakistan, when the South Asian neighbours waged an intense four-day aerial war. \u201cPublic statements from both sides speak of strengthening strategic cooperation \u2013 particularly in defence, counterterrorism, cybersecurity and AI.\u201d<\/p>\n

India\u2019s defence ties with Israel are no one-way street any more. During Israel\u2019s war on Gaza in 2024, Indian arms firms supplied rockets and explosives to Tel Aviv, an Al Jazeera investigation<\/a> confirmed.<\/p>\n

Umer Karim, an associate fellow at the Riyadh-based King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies, sees the partnership as part of a wider recalibration.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is clear that India has entered into a strategic partnership with Israel, and at a time when both governments have been criticised for their actions, this bilateral relationship has become increasingly important for both,\u201d he told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n

Netanyahu\u2019s \u2018hexagon\u2019 and Pakistan<\/p>\n

Netanyahu\u2019s hexagon proposal remains undefined. He has promised an \u201corganised presentation\u201d at a later date.<\/p>\n

While Israel believes it has weakened what the Israeli PM described as the \u201cShia axis\u201d through its 2024-2025 campaign against Iran-aligned groups such as Hezbollah and Hamas, the \u201cemerging radical Sunni axis\u201d is less clearly articulated.<\/p>\n

Analysts suggest it could refer to states and movements aligned with strands of political Islam and sharply critical of Israeli policy, including Turkiye and countries that have strengthened security ties with Riyadh and Ankara, as Pakistan has. Pakistan is also the only Muslim nation with nuclear weapons \u2013 something that has long worried Israel: In the 1980s, Israel tried to recruit India for a joint military operation against a nuclear facility in Pakistan, but backed off the plan after New Delhi abstained.<\/p>\n

Karim was convinced about Pakistan\u2019s place in Netanyahu\u2019s crosshairs.<\/p>\n

\u201cAbsolutely, Pakistan is part of this so-called radical Sunni axis,\u201d he said, arguing that Pakistan\u2019s strategic agreement with Riyadh and its close ties with Turkiye directly affect Israel\u2019s calculations. \u201cIn order to counter this, Israel will increase its defence cooperation and intel sharing with Delhi.\u201d<\/p>\n

Khalid pointed to longstanding intelligence links.<\/p>\n

\u201cIntelligence sharing between Indian RAW and Israeli Mossad dates back to the sixties. So their strengthened interaction in this domain should be of serious concern for us,\u201d he said, referring to the external intelligence agencies of India and Israel.<\/p>\n

Others urge caution. Gokhan Ereli, an Ankara-based independent Gulf researcher, argued that Pakistan is unlikely to be an explicit target within Israel\u2019s framing.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn this context, Pakistan is more plausibly affected indirectly, through the alignment of Israeli, Indian and Western threat narratives, than being singled out as a destabilising actor in its own right,\u201d he told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n

Khan, the former ambassador, agreed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t perceive a direct threat, but the latent animosity is there. And when Modi is in Tel Aviv, he will try to poison Netanyahu and other leaders there to think about Pakistan in a hostile way,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Muhammad Shoaib, assistant professor of international relations at Quaid-i-Azam University, echoed that assessment.<\/p>\n

\u201cIndia\u2019s close relations with Israel are likely to negatively impact Tel Aviv\u2019s perception and statements on Pakistan,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The Gulf balancing act<\/p>\n

Perhaps the most complex arena for Pakistan is the Gulf. For decades, it has relied on Gulf partners for financial support, including rolled-over loans and remittances that form a crucial pillar of its economy.<\/p>\n

\"InPakistan signed a mutual defence agreement with Saudi Arabia in September last year [File: Press Information Department via AP Photo]<\/p>\n

After signing the Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement with Saudi Arabia last September, discussions have intensified about Turkiye joining a similar framework. Yet the United Arab Emirates, one of Pakistan\u2019s closest Gulf partners, signed a strategic agreement with India in January 2026.<\/p>\n

Khalid called for deeper economic integration to underpin these ties.<\/p>\n

\u201cPakistan is doing well to strengthen its bilateral ties with key Middle East countries, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar and Kuwait,\u201d he said, \u201cbut apart from GCC, Pakistan also needs to promote regional cooperation, particularly with countries of Central Asia, Turkiye, Iran and Russia. Geoeconomics through greater trade and connectivity should be the basis of this regional cooperation.\u201d The Gulf Cooperation Council consists of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.<\/p>\n

Complicating matters further is Iran\u2019s central role in current regional tensions. With Washington threatening potential military action against Iran, and Israel pressing for regime change in Tehran, Pakistan has quietly sought to ease tensions by arguing for diplomacy.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut there are two main parties \u2013 Iran and the US \u2013 and then, most importantly, Israel, which doesn\u2019t just limit its demands to a nuclear deal,\u201d Khan, the former diplomat said. \u201cIt wants to expand to Iran\u2019s missile defence capabilities and regional alliances, and that may well be a sticking point. Pakistan\u2019s aspiration is to contribute to efforts to find a diplomatic solution.\u201d<\/p>\n

Strategic contest<\/p>\n

Ultimately, Pakistan\u2019s policymakers must assess whether ties with Saudi Arabia and Turkiye are strong enough to offset the expanding India-Israel partnership.<\/p>\n

Modi and Netanyahu frame their security doctrines around countering what they describe as \u201cIslamic radicalism\u201d. New Delhi has repeatedly accused Pakistan of fomenting violence against India.<\/p>\n

Yet Khan argued that Islamabad is not without leverage.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have built a firewall around us by pushing back Indian aggression in May 2025, and by strengthening our ties with the US over the last year,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Islamabad, Pakistan \u2013\u00a0When Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi stepped off the plane in Tel Aviv on Wednesday for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":309611,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[337,85,207,155298,46,47,43,338],"class_list":{"0":"post-309610","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-israel","8":"tag-asia","9":"tag-il","10":"tag-india","11":"tag-india-pakistan-tensions","12":"tag-israel","13":"tag-middle-east","14":"tag-news","15":"tag-pakistan"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/309610","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=309610"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/309610\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/309611"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=309610"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=309610"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=309610"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}