Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu arrives in India to deepen ties

NEW DELHI >> Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived Sunday for his first visit to India to expand defense, trade and energy ties.

During his six-day stay the two countries are expected to sign agreements on cybersecurity, energy and space cooperation and film production, India’s External Affairs Ministry said. They’re also expected to review progress in implementing agreements on cooperation in technology, water and agriculture that were signed during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Israel last year, the first by an Indian prime minister to Israel.

Before leaving for India, Netanyahu told reporters in Israel that the trip “serves our security, economic, trade and tourism interests, as well as many other areas.”

“We are strengthening ties between Israel and this important global power,” he said.

The visit marks 25 years since India and Israel established diplomatic relations, but comes just weeks after India voted in favor of a U.N. resolution denouncing President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

Daniel Carmon, the Israeli ambassador to India, played down India’s vote.

“I think that the relationship is much stronger than one vote at the U.N.,” he said.

Bilateral trade between the countries has skyrocketed from $200 million in 1992, when India and Israel established diplomatic ties, to $4.16 billion in 2016. But that remains far below Israel’s nearly $40 billion in annual trade with its largest partners, the United States and the European Union.

Still there are irritants in the growing relationship, including India’s cancellation of a $500 million anti-tank missile deal with Israel’s Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd. It wasn’t clear why India scrapped the deal before the contract was signed.

During the Cold War, India didn’t have open relations with Israel, leaning heavily in favor of the Palestinians. But over the past quarter century, the two countries have developed close ties.