Modi’s Israel visit: Balancing strategic ties amid West Bank tensions
The Hindu
Modi's Israel visit aims to strengthen strategic ties amid West Bank tensions and discuss cooperation in various sectors.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi landed in Israel on Wednesday to review with his counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu, the India-Israel Strategic Partnership and to discuss further opportunities in various areas of cooperation, including science and technology. Modi’s visit to Israel in 2017 was the first by any Indian prime minister.
The visit comes shortly after India aligned with more than 100 countries at the United Nations in criticising Israel’s moves in the West Bank, signing a joint statement after initially staying away from a collective condemnation of settlement expansion.
India and Israel established full diplomatic relations in 1992. The relationship has deepened significantly over the past decade across defence, trade, technology and labour mobility.
From about $200 million in 1992, bilateral trade has expanded significantly, peaking at over $10.7 billion in 2022-23. It declined to $6.5 billion in 2023-24 and further down to $3.6 billion in 2024-25 due to war-related disruptions and trouble in the trade route. Since 2014-15, India has maintained a trade surplus with Israel. The surplus widened sharply to $6.1 billion in 2022-23, before narrowing to $2.5 billion in 2023-24 and further down to $663 million in 2024-25.
In the 2019-2025 period, refined products made from crude oil such as petrol and diesel accounted for nearly 44% of India’s exports to Israel, followed by diamonds at about 22%. On the import side too diamonds dominate, making up about a third of India’s imports from Israel. Diamonds are imported as raw stones from Israel, cut and polished in India and the processed diamonds are exported back. Mineral or chemical fertilisers, electronic integrated circuits and radar apparatus are also significant imports from Israel to India.
Defense cooperation remains the cornerstone of the India-Israel strategic partnership.
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