India's Modi heads to Israel to 'strengthen cooperation'

New Delhi: India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi flew to Israel on Wednesday for a two-day visit to deepen ties with a key trade and defence partner, stirring criticism at home.

“Our nations share a robust and multifaceted strategic partnership,” Modi said in a departure statement, saying he will meet his counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu and address the Knesset, Israel’s parliament.

“Ties have significantly strengthened in the last few years.”

New Delhi has steadily expanded cooperation with Israel across the defence, agriculture, technology and cybersecurity sectors while balancing diplomatic interests in the Middle East.

Talks opened in New Delhi on Monday for an India-Israel Free Trade Agreement (FTA), India’s government said in a statement, noting that total merchandise trade was $3.62 billion in 2024-2025.

Modi said he would hold talks with Netanyahu to “discuss ways to strengthen cooperation”, as well as meet Israeli President Isaac Herzog.

Full diplomatic relations between the two countries were established in 1992. Ties deepened after Hindu-nationalist leader Modi took office in 2014.

Modi visited Israel as prime minister in 2017, before Netanyahu made a reciprocal visit to India the following year.

Both right-wing leaders have called each other a “friend”.

In September 2023, grand plans were unveiled in New Delhi for an India–Middle East–Europe Economic Corridor — to link railways, ports, electricity, data networks and pipelines, including through Saudi Arabia and Israel.

Those plans were stalled by Hamas’s October 7 deadly attack on Israel, which responded with a devastating war in the Gaza Strip.

Senior Congress party figure Priyanka Gandhi — sister of opposition leader Rahul — posted on social media on Wednesday that she hoped Modi would mention the killing of “thousands of innocent men, women and children in Gaza” when he addresses Israel’s parliament.

India, the world’s most populous nation with 1.4 billion people, is majority Hindu, but an estimated 220 million Indians are Muslim.

One of India’s largest conglomerates, Adani Group, operates the Mediterranean port of Haifa, while Israeli military drone technology played a pivotal role during India’s May 2025 clash with Pakistan.

At the same time, India maintains strong relations with Gulf nations and Tehran, including developing Iran’s Chabahar port — a trade gateway to Afghanistan, where New Delhi has built a relationship with Taliban authorities.