New Delhi/Jerusalem: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Israel on a two-day visit on February 25 and 26. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced PM Modi’s visit while addressing the “Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations” that concluded on Sunday.
Netanyahu said, “An address to Parliament is scheduled. Who is coming here next week? Narendra Modi.”
He said, “Israel and India have a deep partnership, and we will discuss various types of cooperation. He said, ‘You know, India is not a small country. It has a population of 1.4 billion. And India is also very powerful and very popular.'”
PTI quoted a source as saying that Prime Minister Modi’s visit is likely to last from February 25th to 26th, but its impact will be profound, as PM Modi is popular not only in Israel but across the world.
The itinerary is being finalized, and PM Modi is expected to address the Israeli Parliament, the Knesset.
It is understood that PM Modi will raise all issues of bilateral and regional importance during the two-day visit.
This will be PM Modi’s second visit to Israel. He previously visited Israel in July 2017, which was the first visit by an Indian PM to the Jewish nation.
This high-level visit by the PM follows several recent ministerial visits between the two sides.
Israeli Tourism Minister Haim Katz, Economy and Industry Minister Nir Barkat, Agriculture and Food Security Minister Avi Dichter, and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich visited India last year. The two strategic partners are also moving forward towards signing a Free Trade Agreement (FTA).
During Smotrich’s visit, the two countries signed a Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT). Subsequently, during Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal’s visit to Israel in November, the Terms of Reference (Scope of Work) for the FTA were agreed upon.
In a similar vein, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar visited Israel in December. He met with Netanyahu, President Isaac Herzog, Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, and Barkat.
Also in November, India and Israel signed a landmark agreement to promote defense, industrial, and technological cooperation, encouraging co-development and co-production through the sharing of advanced technologies.
