Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s two-day visit to Israel starting February 25, New Delhi is gearing up to substantially deepen its strategic and defence ties with Tel Aviv including joint development of anti-ballistic missile defence, laser weapons and long range stand-off missiles and drones.
Although the two sides are likely to sign an MoU on security cooperation, no specific defence deal is expected to be concluded, as bilateral defence ties — an ongoing process between the close allies — are projected to be worth around USD 10 billion in the coming years.
PM Modi will be visiting Israel from February 25-26.
India is especially keen on co-developing advanced anti-ballistic missile systems under Mission Sudershan to protect its territory against long-range missile threats.
According to media reports, it is understood that Israel has agreed to share its latest defence technologies with India, including the much sought-after high-tech laser defence and other stand-off systems. In an unprecedented move, Israel is expected to share all defence technologies.
The groundwork for this expanded defence cooperation was laid during Defence Secretary RK Singh’s visit to Israel last November, where an MoU on broadening defence ties was signed.
Why is Israel India’s Key defence partner?
Israel’s proven strength in layered missile defence — spanning long, medium, and short-range systems positions it as a crucial partner. Its robust interception performance in recent conflicts has further cemented its standing in the field. Beyond missile defence, the report noted that Israel has also agreed to supply advanced technologies, including state-of-the-art laser-based defence systems and other high-precision stand-off weapons.
India is also seeking long-range strike capabilities, including air, sea, and ground-launched missiles as well as loitering munitions designed to breach advanced enemy air defence systems, with their recent operational deployment highlighting their growing strategic significance.
Earlier, addressing the conference of presidents of major American Jewish organisations, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced PM Modi’s upcoming visit, noting a “tremendous alliance” between the two nations.
This will be PM Modi’s second visit to the country, following his 2017 visit when he became the first-ever Indian Prime Minister to visit Israel.
According to Israel PMO, Netanyahu said, “The war showed the prowess of Israel, the enormous capacities here, the high-tech, deep-tech capabilities that astonish the world. That is not only in the military field; it has immediate consequences in the civilian field, and people understand it, so they come here. The Chancellor of Germany was here in his initiative; we’d like to talk about our defense industry, in which they want to invest a very, very large amount of money.”
“Who’s coming here next week? (Indian PM) Narendra Modi. Tremendous alliance between Israel and India, and we are going to discuss all sorts of cooperation. India is not a small country. It has 1.5 billion people. In India, Israel is enormously popular,” he added.
PM Modi’s scheduled Israel visit comes in the backdrop of the Board of Peace meeting on February 19. Board of Peace is an initiative originated from US President Donald Trump’s 20-point Gaza ceasefire plan endorsed by the UN Security Council but has since expanded beyond its original scope.
