India-Israel To Upgrade To Special Strategic Partnership: PM Modi After Bilateral Talks With Netanyahu
PM Modi after talks with Israel PM Netanyahu said that India's security interest is linked to peace and stability in Middle East
Published : February 26, 2026 at 4:01 PM IST
|Updated : February 26, 2026 at 5:27 PM IST
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during the joint address with Israel PM Natanyahu to the press in jerusalem, announced on Thursday that the two countries have decided to upgrade ties to special strategic partnership. "We have decided to upgrade our time-tested ties to special strategic partnership," PM Modi said.
In area of defence, India and Israel have decades-old cooperation, Modi asserted and added that an MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) inked last year will give new direction to it.
In his address, Modi said, "We discussed giving a new direction and momentum to our cooperation. Our economic partnership has become an engine of growth, innovation, and shared prosperity. To promote mutual investment, we signed a Bilateral Investment Agreement last year. We will soon finalise a mutually beneficial Free Trade Agreement as well."
Modi said that the two countries will work in the fields of civil nuclear energy and space.
He added that an agreement has been reached for use of UPI in Israel.
On terrorism, Modi said that the two nations are completely clear that there is no place for terrorism in the world. "India's stance is clear which is: humanity must never become a victim of conflict," said Modi and added that India has fully supported efforts towards Gaza Peace Plan.
"India's security interest is linked to peace and stability in Middle East," asserted Modi.
Netanyahu, who spoke first said, "I have to comment to my friend Narendra, You have an amazingly efficient government. What you can do with one minister and one ambassador gives me thoughts. I don’t want you to worry about it. In fact, we know that the meeting of minds and hearts that we’ve had here will also continue in this remarkable G2G that is long overdue and will create an even greater boost to the enormous benefits that we can bring to each other, and I think to humanity at large..."
PM Modi landed in Israel on Wednesday on a two-day visit with an aim to impart a new momentum to the bilateral ties. It is Modi's second visit to Israel in nine years. The India-Israel relationship was elevated to the level of strategic partnership during Modi's first visit to that country in July 2017.
India and Israel share a robust strategic partnership with strong cooperation across science and technology, innovation, defence and security, trade and investment, agriculture, water, and people-to-people relations.
There has been an upswing in India-Israel ties in the last few years, including in the areas of defence, scientific research, cybersecurity and innovation. The defence cooperation has emerged as an important pillar of the partnership between the two sides, with Israel supplying a plethora of military platforms and weapon systems to India.
The trade and investment ties between the two sides are also witnessing steady progress. During the visit to Israel of Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal in November, the term of reference (ToR) for the launch of Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations between India and Israel was signed.
In September, the two sides had inked a Bilateral Investment Agreement (BIA) to expand economic cooperation. The people-to-people ties between the two countries are also an important aspect of the overall relations, with over 41,000-strong Indian diaspora playing a key role in the two-way engagement.
In November 2023, India and Israel signed a bilateral framework agreement to facilitate the temporary and legal employment of Indian workers in Israel. Since then, 20,000 Indians arrived in Israel, both under the Government-to-Government route and through private channels, according to officials.
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