Why the PM’s visit to Israel is significant |
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Israel later this week is far more than a routine diplomatic engagement. It is a reaffirmation of a strategic relationship that has matured steadily, confidently, and unapologetically since July 2017 – when he became the first Indian Prime Minister to visit Israel. That moment marked a decisive break from decades of hesitation and ideological diffidence in India’s West Asia policy.
What followed has been one of the most consequential realignments in India’s contemporary foreign relations. For years after recognising Israel in 1950, India had kept the relationship understated, often subordinated to domestic political optics and Cold War-era ideological positioning. Engagement existed, but it was deliberately kept out of sight. The 2017 visit changed that paradigm. It signalled that India would no longer allow its strategic interests to be constrained by inherited dogmas or performative moral posturing. Since then, India-Israel ties have deepened across defence, security, te chnology, innovation and people-to-people exchanges.
The relationship has evolved from quiet cooperation to an open strategic partnership anchored in trust and results. The most visible pillar of this partnership is defence and security. Israel today is among India’s top defence partners, with cumulative defence cooperation exceeding USD 10 billion. Israeli systems play a critical role in India’s missile defence, surveillance, border security, drones, electronic warfare and intelligence capabilities. More importantly, the relationship has moved beyond buyer-seller dynamics to joint development and co-production-fully aligned with India’s push for indigenisation and strategic autonomy. This trust did not emerge overnight.
Israel has stood by India during its challenging moments, including the 1971 war and the 1999 Kargil conflict, offering timely and practical support when many others hesitated. Such reliability matters deeply in matters of national security, and New Delhi has neither forgotten nor discounted it. Yet to see the India-Israel partnership only through a defence lens would be to miss........