NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to pay a two-day visit to Israel starting February 25, PTI reported citing sources on Monday. Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu too said that PM Modi would visit the nation next week. He further hailed “alliance” with India, terming it “tremendous”. “Parliament address on the anvil. Who’s coming here next week? Narendra Modi. Tremendous alliance between Israel and India, and we are going to discuss all sorts of cooperation,” Netanyahu said.“Now, you know, India is not a small country. It has 1.4 billion people. India is enormously powerful, enormously popular,” he added.
Though India has always called for a “two-state” solution for the Israel-Gaza war, it has also maintained a strategic partnership of mutual benefit with Tel Aviv.Last year PM Modi and Netanyahu had a telephonic conversation and the two had “reaffirmed their commitment to further strengthening these ties for mutual benefit”.“Spoke with my friend Prime Minister Netanyahu. We reviewed progress in the India-Israel Strategic Partnership and agreed to further strengthen our cooperation. Also reaffirmed our shared commitment to zero tolerance for terrorism. India supports all efforts aimed at achieving a just and durable peace in the region,” PM Modi had said.Netanyahu’s visit to India has been on hold since 2023, after the October 7 Hamas attacks disrupted a planned round of bilateral engagements.
