Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke with his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu on October 6, 2020 and India – Israel agreed to continue and advance bilateral cooperation in order to fight against the coronavirus in the fields of research, field trials of diagnostic tools and vaccine development.. Emphasis were given on technological cooperation and tests. Both sides agreed to hold a digital conference on innovation in the field of solar energy. This will jointly achieve inexpensive solutions that will eventually benefit the economies of both countries and the world.
Highlights
- They agreed on the importance of close cooperation in the field of research, field trials of diagnostic tools and vaccine development to benefit the people of the two countries and greater good of humanity.
- They also agreed to continue regular consultations in order to share assessments on emerging regional and global challenges and opportunities.
India- Israel relation
Background
India-Israel relations can be traced back to 1,000 BCE when the countries were involves in trade. Also to the time of the Indus valley civilization of the Indian subcontinent and the Babylonian culture of Middle East. Trade connections continued and later the languages of these cultures started to share linguistic similarities. Israel have an embassy in New Delhi and two consulate in Mumbai and Bengaluru while India have its embassy in Tel Aviv since 1992.
Defence relation
Israel is the 2nd largest exporter of defence equipment to India, after Russia while India is the largest buyer of Israeli military equipment. Military business between the two nations was worth around $9 billion in between 1999 to 2009. Both the countries are involved in extending intelligence sharing on terrorist groups and joint military training.
Trade
India is the 3rd largest Asian trade partner of Israel, and 10th largest trade partner in all as of 2014.The two nations are negotiating a bilateral free trade agreement, focusing on areas including information technology, biotechnology, and agriculture.
Recent Developments
Prime Minister Modi became the first-ever Indian Prime Minister to visit Israel In 2017. During the visit, the diplomatic relationship was upgraded and seven agreements were signed in the areas of R&D, innovation, water, agriculture and space. Later, Israeli Prime Minister visited India in 2018. Government to Government (G2G) agreement on cybersecurity, oil and gas cooperation, film cooperation and air transport were signed, along with five other semi-government agreements was established in 2018. The bilateral trade has also diversified which now includes pharmaceuticals, agriculture, IT and telecom and homeland security. India have investments in Israel in drip-irrigation, pharmaceuticals, wastewater treatment and IT.