Israeli PM to visit India next month

Israel’s Prime Minister Naftali Bennett will visit India next month, in a trip marking 30 years since the countries established diplomatic ties, his office has said.

“At the invitation of the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett will pay his first official visit to India in early April,” Bennett’s office said in a statement on Saturday.

It later added that the trip would take place on April 2.

“This visit will reaffirm the important connection between the countries and the leaders, and will mark the 30th anniversary of the establishment of relations between Israel and India,” the statement said.

Modi visited Israel in 2017, and his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu made a high-profile return visit a year later.

Netanyahu’s trip was the first by Israeli leader to India since 2003.

While India has historically been a vocal supporter of the Palestinians, it has also increasingly purchased military hardware from Israel’s highly vaunted defence industry.

A small bomb exploded outside the Israeli embassy in New Delhi last year, as it marked the anniversary of bilateral diplomatic relations.

• MENA
• India