Staff Reporter
India and Israel today discussed key issues pertaining to defence cooperation and global and regional scenarios. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh held bilateral meeting with his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Gantz in New Delhi. In a series of tweets, Mr. Singh said, both the countries have adopted a vision statement which will pave the way for defence cooperation in future. He said, there is a broad consensus between the two countries on further strengthening the bilateral strategic and defence cooperation.
Defence Ministry said, a wide range of issues concerning bilateral, regional and defence industrial cooperation were discussed during the meeting. The two Ministers reviewed the existing military-to-military activities which have increased despite the challenges due to COVID-19 pandemic. They discussed ways to increase cooperation in all domains with a focus on Research and Development in future technologies and defence co-production.
Both the Ministers acknowledged mutual security challenges and their convergences on a number of strategic and defence issues. They expressed commitment to work together to enhance cooperation in all forums. A Letter of Intent on enhancing cooperation in the field of Futuristic Defence Technologies was also exchanged between the two Ministers.
Earlier in the day, Mr Gantz visited the National War Memorial and paid homage to the fallen heroes by laying wreath at the monument. He was accorded a Ceremonial Guard of Honour before his bilateral meeting with Mr Singh.
The visiting dignitary reached New Delhi today an official visit to India. It is his first visit to India with an aim to strengthen the defence ties between the two countries. Defence cooperation has been one of the significant pillars of the bilateral cooperation. This year marks the 30th Anniversary of the formation of the official diplomatic ties between India and Israel.