Tel Aviv: Israeli Minister of Defence Yoav Gallant spoke this morning (March 3) with his Indian counterpart, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. The ministers discussed global strategic issues, as well as common security challenges.

In this regard, Minister Gallant expressed his commitment to further deepening defence ties between Israel and India and promoting strategic dialogue, research and development (R&D) and industrial cooperation.  The Ministers agreed to maintain ongoing communication and extended mutual invitations for official visits.

Today, total trade between India and Israel stands at US$7.86 billion. On the defence front, Israel accounts for about 8.48 percent of India’s total arms imports and is its fourth largest supplier after Russia (46 percent), France (27 percent), and the United States (12 percent).

Israeli sources told Raksha Anirveda that following the recent Aero India 2023 show the Israeli defence companies identified some new potential for collaborations with Indian defence companies. The sources said that according to the Make in India policy, the Israeli companies will have to transfer technologies and production to the Indian companies as has been done in the past.

The sources added that  during the discussion between the two ministers, the Israeli commitment related to some very advanced defence systems found mention. The sources added that the Israeli defence minister brought up the Iranian issue after recently international inspectors found Uranium enriched to 84 per cent grade in one Iranian nuclear facility.

A defence source told Raksha Anirveda that the model that was used to jointly develop the Barak-8 missile may be used in the near future to answer some of India’s defence requirements.