New Delhi: Israel Foreign Minister Eli Cohen has decided to cut short his three-day visit to India as tensions escalate in Gaza following Israeli air raids that reportedly killed at least 13 people, including three commanders of the militant group Islamic Jihad.
Cohen, who was set to travel to New Delhi, Agra and Mumbai from 9-11 May, will depart after meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Ministers S. Jaishankar Tuesday, he announced in a tweet.
“I landed a short time ago in New Delhi, the capital of India, and immediately upon landing I received a security update. In light of the events in Israel, I decided to cut short the diplomatic visit to India and return to Israel after my meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi that will take place today,” the foreign minister said in the tweet, which is originally in Hebrew.
Jaishankar said in a tweet that cooperation in the areas of agriculture, water, defence and security were discussed at the meeting, as were the progress made in I2U2 — a grouping of India, Israel, the UAE, and the US — and the ministers’ perspectives on the situation in Ukraine and the Indo-Pacific region.
Productive and wide-ranging discussions with Foreign Minister @elicoh1 of Israel this afternoon.
The main pillars of our Strategic Partnership – Agriculture, Water, Defence & Security – are taking our ties forward. New agreements in water & agriculture today underline the… pic.twitter.com/CPAdcBuYEw
— Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) May 9, 2023
Cohen’s trip is the third high-level visit by senior Israeli officials in less than three months, after Israeli parliament speaker Amir Ohana in late March and Economy Minister Nir Barkat last month.
All three visits are expected to prepare the ground for Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s trip to India later this year, diplomatic sources in Israel told ThePrint. Israel ambassador to India Naor Gilon confirmed last month that Netanyahu is planning a visit to India by the end of this year.
During his visit, Cohen was scheduled to attend a business forum hosted by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in Delhi and attend other programmes in Agra and Mumbai, according to a media advisory released by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).
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‘Netanyahu only sending ministers he trusts to India’
Cohen’s decision to cut short his visit comes as Israel is readying itself for a potential response from militants after the airstrike.
Reuters quoted Palestinian officials as saying that three Islamic Jihad commanders and 10 civilians were killed in surprise airstrikes on Gaza Tuesday, drawing threats of reprisal from the militant group.
According to local media reports, Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant will hold an assessment with security officials, while cities in central Israel are opening bomb shelters in apprehension of retaliatory strikes.
The strikes on Gaza come days after Netanyahu’s coalition faced nationwide protests against its proposed judicial reforms, forcing the government to press pause on them.
Despite this, a recent poll showed that support in Israel for Netanyahu’s Likud party has plummeted.
According to Israeli analyst and journalist Lev Aran, Netanyahu’s planned visit to India is critical for him, as he’s only sending ministers from his own party instead of other parties in his coalition government.
When Netanyahu took office for the sixth time last December, he formed a coalition government in which his own party holds fewer seats than his ultranationalist coalition partners.
“Cohen, Nir Barkat and Amir Ohana are all from Likud. This means the visit to India is very important to Netanyahu because he is only sending people he trusts, and who can bring back fruitful information that will ultimately bring about a fruitful visit for him,” Aran told ThePrint.
He also said that China’s role in brokering a peace deal between long-time regional foes Saudi Arabia and Iran earlier this year could be a topic of discussion between Jaishankar and Cohen.
“There could be an Israeli displeasure and Indian displeasure about the new role of China in the Middle East. It’s likely that this was discussed between Cohen and Jaishankar,” he said.
(Edited by Uttara Ramaswamy)
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