New Delhi: It is essential for India and Israel to work together against terrorism, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar told his Israeli counterpart Gideon Sa’ar as the two held bilateral talks here Tuesday.
Sa’ar, on his first visit to India ahead of a possible visit by Netanyahu later this year, raised Tel Aviv’s goal of promoting connectivity projects, such as the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) and the India-Israel-UAE-US (I2U2) group.
Sa’ar’s visit is crucial as New Delhi is seeking to boost its regional connectivity outreach through IMEC and I2U2, which have seen little moment over the last couple of years because of the conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
In his opening remarks, Sa’ar said that Israel would “never forget” that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the “first world leader to call” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after the attack by Hamas on 7 October, 2023. The Indian leader had publicly described the Hamas assault as a “terrorist attack” and strongly condemned it at the time.
“India and Israel have a strategic partnership and particularly in our case, that term has a real meaning. We have stood together in testing times… Our two nations face a particular challenge from terrorism. It is essential that we work towards ensuring a global approach of zero-tolerance towards terrorism, in all its forms and manifestations,” Jaishankar said in his opening remarks.
“Given our strategic cooperation, an exchange of perspectives on regional and global issues also holds great value. There are some plurilateral initiatives in which we both have a strong interest. I look forward to that aspect of our deliberations as well.”
The Israeli foreign minister in his remarks highlighted Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen as “radical terrorist states”, while declaring that “uprooting them” is a necessity for the security and stability of West Asia.
However, US President Donald J. Trump earlier this year announced the ‘Gaza peace plan’, which has seen the return of all the remaining hostages held captive in the enclave by Hamas last month. The peace plan agreed to by both Israel and Hamas has had an even implementation in the last three weeks, with both sides accusing the other of violating the terms.
New Delhi and Tel Aviv recently signed a bilateral investment agreement, which was welcomed by Jaishankar. The Indian External Affairs Minister also called for closer cooperation in strategic sectors such as semiconductors and artificial intelligence.
“We are hosting the AI Impact Summit next year in February in India and look forward very much to Israel’s presence,” said Jaishankar. The summit is expected to see a number of heads of states or governments descend to New Delhi.
Jaishankar added: “In recent times, India has developed many new capabilities, especially in rail, road and port infrastructure, in renewable energy and in health. Our businesses are very keen to explore opportunities in Israel, and we would certainly like to give that more attention.”
Sa’ar landed in New Delhi late Monday evening and will depart India Wednesday morning. His visit comes a day after the Bahraini foreign minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Alzayani met with Jaishankar. Manama is set to assume the presidency of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) later this year, as New Delhi seeks to deepen its ties with the countries in the region.
(Edited by Shashank Kishan)