“Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Israel from July 4 to 6 at the invitation of Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel. This is the first ever visit of an Indian Prime Minister to Israel,” the Ministry of External Affairs statement said.
“During the visit, the Prime Minister will have detailed discussions with Prime Minister Netanyahu on all matters of mutual interest and will also call on President Rivlin,” statement said.
Modi will also pay homage to Indian soldiers at the Indian cemetery in Haifa and address the Indian community at an event in Tel Aviv.
Apart from defense cooperation, which will be the main attraction of the visit, both India and Israel will strengthen cooperation in the field of cyber security.
“The visit of the Prime Minister will provide an impetus for deeper bilateral engagement in areas of mutual interest,” the Ministry of External Affairs said.
Ahead of the Modi visit, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced a $800-million investment to strengthen bilateral economic, technical and academic ties on Sunday.
“This is a historic visit to Israel. In the 70 years of the country’s existence, no Indian Prime Minister has ever visited… Today, the Cabinet will approve decisions that will deepen these ties, beginning with expanding exports and deepening cooperation in agriculture and water. We will establish a joint innovation, and research and development, fund. We will also increase tourism from India to Israel; this has very great potential,” Netanyahu was quoted, as saying in a report on hamodia.com.
Apart from space, defense and cyber cooperation, the two countries will establish a joint $ 400 million Israeli-Indian fund for encouraging Israeli and Indian companies to pursue innovation and R&D, and a joint project for water and agriculture, with cooperation from the World Bank and other global backers.
