Israel announced that PM Naftali Bennett will pay his first official visit to India on April 2 at the invitation of his counterpart Narendra Modi. The three-day visit will mark the establishment of 30 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
The visit will also take place against the backdrop of the Ukraine crisis in which Bennett reportedly is playing a peacemaker and which has also seen Modi having regular contacts with both President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
“The purpose of the visit is to advance and strengthen the strategic alliance between the countries, and to expand bilateral ties. In addition, the leaders will discuss the strengthening of cooperation in a variety of areas, including innovation, economy, research and development, agriculture and more,” said the Israel PM’s foreign media adviser in a statement.
Bennett had earlier described the “deep relationship” between India and Israel as one coming from the heart and not being about interests and urged Modi to work together to take the bilateral ties to “a whole new level”. India and Israel elevated their bilateral relations to a strategic partnership during the historic visit of PM Modi to Israel in July 2017. Modi had met Bennett on the sidelines of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP 26) in Glasgow.
