4 min readFeb 25, 2026 02:36 PM IST
First published on: Feb 25, 2026 at 02:36 PM IST
India and Israel are two old civilisations that have left a significant mark in history. Despite many centuries of foreign invasions, both have managed to preserve their unique identity and cultural heritage.
The revival of our sovereignty as independent nation-states in the modern era hasn’t come easy either. We had to overcome external and internal challenges. Both our nations live in challenging neighbourhoods. Our non-belligerent nature and constant peace seeking has too often been interpreted as weakness. Cross-border terrorism, radical ideologies, cyber threats, and asymmetric warfare are daily realities. We had and still have to fight wars and sustain constant attacks while building our economies. Therefore, we must create the robustness needed to prosper while handling constant attempts of destabilisation.
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Due to these similarities and despite geographical distance, differences in size and other gaps such as tradition and language, India and Israel are becoming closer, and that is not a coincidence. During the last decade, prime ministers Narendra Modi and Benjamin Netanyahu have been the main drivers of this. Their exchange of visits back in 2017 and 2018 injected momentum into the relationship, mainly in the fields of defence and food security. The vast economic reforms that both of them have led domestically unleashed a tsunami of entrepreneurial energy that led to major leaps forward in the economies of India and Israel, which have made our countries attractive on the global level and bilateral cooperation much more attractive.
On top of these significant advancements, 2025 was by itself a transformative year for bilateral relations. While Israel emerged triumphant from one of the more significant war efforts in its history, India managed to change the rules of the game in its neighbourhood following Operation Sindoor. Both India and Israel discovered, again, who their trusted partners are in times of need.
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This discovery has been a catalyst in the expansion of our exchanges: Deeper cooperation in defence and new dimensions in our cooperation, such as doubling the Indian workforce in Israel, inviting Indian infrastructure companies into the Israeli market or signing the bilateral investment treaty and the terms of reference for a free trade agreement. All of that and much more has been achieved thanks to nine ministerial visits in both directions and dozens of business, cultural and academic delegations during a short period of time.
The rediscovery of India by Israelis and of Israel by Indians is a result of a new urgent need jointly identified: To build resilience in a world that is shakier and more competitive than it has ever been.
India and Israel are ideal partners also because of almost perfect complementarity of relative advantages. India is the fastest-growing large economy in the world, capable of scaling-up solutions that benefit billions of people, while Israel is the strongest innovation hub outside the US. With the right set of policies and agreements, India and Israel can increase the already existing wave of technological partnerships through joint ventures, capital investments, mergers and acquisitions, and joint R&D.
The upcoming visit of PM Modi to Israel is going to realise that potential by signing new agreements that expand the scope and depth of cooperation in sensitive and emerging technologies. What India and Israel have achieved together has created the trust that gives our leaders the opportunity to reinvigorate this relationship even further. A special strategic partnership between our countries that will take us where we want to be: Building joint resilience to withstand the challenges and elevating competitiveness by merging our efforts in developing cutting-edge technologies.
The series of trade deals signed by India during the last year have implications for the future of trade. Trillions of dollars’ worth of merchandise will start moving towards West Asia, Europe and the US. That will diversify supply chains and create more opportunities for regional and bilateral cooperation.
India and Israel are on a new path to success. We are thankful to PM Modi for his leadership and look forward to welcoming him in Israel.
(The writer is Israeli ambassador to India.)
