New Delhi: India Thursday pitched for a deeper military collaboration with Israel during Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz’s meeting with his Indian counterpart, Rajnath Singh, in New Delhi.
“India and Israel share similar and common challenges, including border security and fighting terrorism. By working together, we may increase our capabilities and ensure the security and economic interests of both countries,” Gantz said during his bilateral talks with Singh.
Sources in the defence and security establishment told ThePrint that India has informed Israel the way forward was collaboration.
Defence Minister Singh told his counterpart that Israeli firms should be encouraged to partner with Indian companies, especially for the production of drones and counter drone systems.
“A lot has happened in the world over the past few months, especially given the Russia-Ukraine crisis. While the government has been talking about atmanirbharta in defence, the current crisis has made it even more urgent,” the source in the defence and security establishment said.
The source also said Singh told Gantz that while Israel has technology, India possesses skilled manpower. “Both countries can come together to collaborate, manufacture and innovate,” the source added.
A second source explained that both countries are celebrating 30 years of diplomatic ties this year and can scale up bilateral ties further.
“It takes two to tango. Israel can join in and use the opportunity that India is offering. We want Israeli companies to come in and manufacture products here. We, anyway, use a lot of Israeli defence systems and hence it is important to make use of India’s atmanirbharta policy and make jointly, not just for India but also for the world,” the second source explained.
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Focus on defence co-production
In order to further military ties in future, both nations also adopted the ‘India-Israel Vision on Defence Cooperation’ document during the talks between Singh and Gantz.
A ‘Letter of Intent’ on enhancing cooperation in the field of Futuristic Defence Technologies was also exchanged between the two leaders. A statement released by the defence ministry said a wide range of issues concerning bilateral, regional and defence industrial cooperation were discussed during the meeting.
The two leaders also reviewed the existing military-to-military activities that have increased despite challenges due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the statement said.
“They discussed ways to increase cooperation in all domains with a focus on research and development in future technologies and defence co-production,” the statement read.
The Israeli government also released a statement saying both leaders have declared their intention to further defence cooperation between the two countries in a manner that harnesses Israel’s technological advance and operational experience, together with India’s extraordinary development and production capabilities.
“Cooperation between the countries would be in line with Prime Minister Modi’s ‘Make in India’ vision…the ministers discussed partnerships within the government-to-government framework, military training, and technological cooperation with a focus on UAVs and defensive capabilities,” the statement released by the Israeli government said.
Earlier in the day, Gantz also visited the National War Memorial and paid homage to India’s fallen soldiers. He was accorded a ceremonial Guard of Honour before his meeting with Singh.
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