MUMBAI, India — Israel plans to expand its defense cooperation with India by sharing advanced military technologies and boosting manufacturing of defense equipment in India, including collaboration related to the Iron Dome and other air-defense systems, Israel’s Consul General to Midwest India Yaniv Revach said Monday.
Speaking in an interview ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Israel, Revach said defense cooperation would be a central focus of the upcoming talks between the two countries’ leaders.
“Prime Minister Netanyahu specifically said that one of the aspects of this visit is defense cooperation, and we try to promote and to upgrade the defense cooperation with India, definitely,” Revach said.
He said the two countries already share a “very unique and strong” defense relationship shaped by common security challenges, and that discussions during Modi’s visit would seek to expand existing agreements.
“During this specific visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, we plan to expand this agreement to focus on specific topics, for example, manufacturing here in India, defense cooperation, and also cooperation regarding the Iron Dome and other defense systems in Israel that we can actually share the technology with our partners here in India,” Revach said.
Revach also said Israel is looking to build a broader strategic framework with India to counter what he described as a “radical axis,” bringing together India, countries that are part of the Abraham Accords, select African nations, and states in the Middle East, including Cyprus and Greece.
“I think it’s very important that Prime Minister Modi will visit Israel this week to try to promote this initiative,” he said.
Emphasizing the wider impact of high-level diplomatic engagement, Revach said meetings between the two leaders could translate into deeper cooperation beyond government channels.
“The summit is very important because once you see the two leaders meet together and try to promote this agenda and specifically promote a few resolutions to strengthen the ties between the two countries in so many fields, I think it will go down to the private sector, to the companies, to try also to promote cooperation,” he said.
Separately, Israel’s Ambassador to India, Reuven Azar, said Israel is looking forward to Prime Minister Modi’s visit and expects it to mark a decisive step forward in bilateral relations.
In a video message shared on social media, Azar said the visit would reinforce a partnership “built on trust, powered by innovation, and guided by a clear understanding of the challenges of our time,” adding that both countries intend to move forward decisively during the trip. (Source: IANS)
