Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a strengthening of defense, trade and counter-terrorism ties with Israel during a rare visit, forging closer bonds to combat security threats in their regions.
Defense relations between the nations are an “important pillar” of the partnership, Modi said in an address to the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, on Wednesday, after arriving in Tel Aviv for the first time in nine years. He and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are “committed to expanding trade,” strengthening investment flows, and promoting joint infrastructure development, Modi said, citing last year’s ceasefire in the war in Gaza as creating a means to cooperate more closely.
“In today’s uncertain world, a strong defense partnership between trusted partners like India and Israel is of vital importance,” he said.
Modi is expected to finalize a major order for Israeli-made missile systems as part of the visit, according to an official in New Delhi familiar with the matter, asking not to be identified because the discussions are private. Specifics of the deal are unlikely to be publicly released, though, as both sides keep the focus of the trip on their broader ties, officials said.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on the order.
Israel is one of India’s biggest arms suppliers going back decades, with the defense relationship evolving over time to one where the two countries now jointly manufacture equipment like drones and missiles. Ahead of Modi’s trip, Reuven Azar, Israeli’s ambassador to India, said the two sides are seeking a deeper defense and security agreement, allowing for cooperation on “more sensitive projects.”
Modi, whose Hindu nationalist party won a third consecutive election in 2024, has been a staunch supporter of Israel and shares a close personal bond with Netanyahu, often referring to him as a “friend.” He’s remained loyal to those ties, while relations with Israel’s other allies came under strain due to the humanitarian impact of the war in Gaza.
The US-brokered Gaza peace plan, later endorsed by the United Nations, “holds the promise of a just and durable peace for all the people of the region, including by addressing the Palestine Issue,” Modi said. The future of the truce with Hamas remains uncertain however, with the militant group yet to give up arms and future governance and security initiatives at a nascent stage.
Israel and India are strengthening their bonds at a time when their rivals in the region are forging closer alliances. Pakistan — a nuclear-armed nation that India has clashed with several times over the years — signed a mutual defense pact with Saudi Arabia. Turkey is seeking to join that defense alliance, people familiar with the matter said last month, a move that would further shift the balance of power in the tense region.
“The two leaders see themselves as leading countries in a dangerous neighborhood, threatened by Islamist militancy,” said Michael Kugelman, a senior fellow at Atlantic Council. There’s “a feeling that the international community is not willing to help them as much as they would like, compelling them to work more closely,” he said.
Trade is a big focus of the trip. Israeli negotiators this week traveled to India to kick off talks on a free-trade pact, building on terms of reference agreed to in November. That would give Israel greater access to one of the world’s fastest-growing economies.
India is Israel’s second-largest trading partner in Asia with bilateral trade estimated at $5 billion in 2025, including goods, services, and diamonds and excluding defense, according to the Israeli Economy and Industry Ministry. Modi’s government is also the biggest buyer of Israeli defense equipment, accounting for as much as 34% of all arms exports, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
Israel and India are developing a maritime and land corridor that will connect India to the port of Haifa and from there to Europe, Netanyahu said in the Knesset.
That builds on an initiative unveiled by the US in September 2023 — known as the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor — that aimed to foster friendlier relations between Arab nations and Israel.
The start of the Israel-Hamas war a month later threatened to undermine the project, but Sagi Karni, head of the Southeast Asia and India Bureau at Israel’s Foreign Ministry, told Bloomberg the plan is still viable. Israel’s Haifa port is primed to serve as IMEC’s Mediterranean end-point after it was partly bought by India’s Adani Group, he said.
“That doesn’t invalidate the possibility of IMEC having other channels running through other areas,” Karni said.
