New Delhi: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar is set to begin his 3-day visit to Israel to engage with the newly formed Israel government. As per the media reports, Jaishankar will take a one-day halt in Dubai where he will discuss various issues with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) leadership.
After the discussion, Jaishankar will board the flight to Tel-Aviv where he is scheduled to meet the Israel Prime Minister Naftali Bennet, Foreign Minister and alternate PM Yair Lapid, and various other members of the newly formed coalition government in order to strengthen the diplomatic ties between the two governments.
On the official invitation from Yair Lapid, Jaishankar is visiting Israel. Lapid heads the centrist Yesh Atid party and will take over the position of the premier from Naftali Bennett in 2023 under the agreement which led to the formation of the coalition government.
On Friday, Alon Ushpiz, the Director-General of Israel's Foreign Ministry took to Twitter and said that "India is a strategic partner and a very close friend."
Earlier in 2017, Prime Minister Narendra Modi went to Israel to conduct discussions with the then Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Both countries elevated their ties to the "strategic partnership" level and vowed to do "much more together" to combat growing radicalisation and terrorism. The two sides signed seven pacts covering areas like innovation, water conservation, agriculture and space.