January 14, 2018
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrives in India’s capital, New Delhi, reciprocating a state visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Israel in 2017, the first by an Indian prime minister. It is the first trip to India by an Israeli prime minister in more than 15 years and signifies the blossoming relationship between the states under Modi and Netanyahu.
Economic connections and security cooperation have grown significantly since Modi came to power in 2014. He and Netanyahu see their nations as allies in the fight against global terrorism.
Netanyahu meets with Indian governmental, military and business leaders as he tries to expand trade between the countries, especially in the military realm. Israel has become one of India’s largest arms providers, and the total value of bilateral trade between India and Israel has increased more than 20 times since they normalized relations in 1992. Netanyahu announces at the end of the trip that a guided-missile deal that was scuttled by the Indian government is back on track.
A key part of Netanyahu’s visit is a speech at the Raisina Dialogue, a world affairs symposium organized by India’s government and a think tank. Netanyahu stresses strength as the key to moving a country forward, underlining the rationale for a robust military partnership between Israel and India. Netanyahu also spends time with India’s small Jewish community. He meets with Moshe, a boy whose parents were killed at their Chabad house during the Mumbai terror attacks in 2008.