Israeli Defence Minister's Visit to India

As both nations marked 30 years of excellent ties, visit of the Israeli Defence Minister gave an opportunity to review the full range of India-Israel relations and reiterate their commitment to expanding cooperation for the security & prosperity of both nations

- RANJIT KUMAR

LAST OCTOBER, INDIA AND Israel decided to set up a task force to put together a comprehensive 10-year roadmap to identify new areas of cooperation. Seven months later both countries have added a new dimension to bolster their vibrant defence ties, by issuing a new landmark vision statement. The 10-year roadmap was prepared after the India Israel Joint Working Group on defence cooperation headed by the Indian Defence Secretary Ajay Kumar who with his Israeli counterpart, Director-General of Israel's Ministry of Defence, Major General Amir Eshel (Retd) reviewed the progress in ongoing programmes. Giving a further boost to this cooperation, a letter of Intent on enhancing cooperation in the field uristic Defence Technologies was also exchanged between the latest June 2 meeting of the two defence Ministers, Rajnath Singh and Benny Gantz.

Benjamin Gantz who arrived in New Delhi on June 1, marking three decades of diplomatic relations between the two nations was received by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on June 2, 2022. Gantz received a Tri-service Guard of Honour in the presence of Rajnath Singh and also laid a wreath at the National War Memorial.

The Israeli defence Minister also had the opportunity to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi. According to an Israeli Embassy statement, "During his meeting with Prime Minister Modi, Minister Gantz emphasised the opportunity to invest further in defence cooperation between the two countries, while building on shared values in order to contribute to global stability. This was Benny Gantz's first visit to India with an aim to strengthen the defence ties between the two countries. A high-level delegation accompanied Minister Gantz, which included his Chief of Staff Maayan Israeli, Military Secretary Brigadier General Yaki Dolf, Director of the Policy and POL-MIL Bureau Dror Shalom and Head of the International Defence Cooperation Directorate Yair Kulas.