Israel's President Reuven arrives in Mumbai on Monday

The Dollar Business

Just before he embarked on a six-day visit to India, Israel President  Reuven Rivlin described his association with India as, “an important ally and close friend of Israel, a state with whom we have much in common.” Indeed the relations between India and Israel go a long way back to 1992 when India normalised its ties and the relationship slowly but steadily developed. Both the countries share intelligence, close defence ties and homeland security.

Israel’s quest for additional markets in the S.E Asian region and India’s  need for better defence supplies, better technology brought both the countries closer. India has become Israel’s largest customer for its defence supplies while Israel ranks high in India’s list of suppliers. Between 2005 and 2014, Israel’s defence supplies amounted to almost 7% of military equipment bought by India, coming third only to Russia and US. 

As the President, Pranab Mukherjee recently remarked, Israel was there for India when the country needed it the most, this included during the period of sanctions and during times of other internal security crisis. The economic ties between the two has grown.  The countries are negotiating a free trade agreement  and have been taking further steps to encourage investments from business leaders of both the countries.

Speaking to the media before leaving for New Delhi yesterday, Rivlin said, "Israel and India are both countries of innovation and of inspiration. Countries that have ancient traditions, but have built strong and thriving hi-tech economies, and now celebrate 25 years of diplomatic relations. This visit is a sign of the strong relations and friendship between our peoples, and I hope will plant the seeds for that friendship to grow closer and closer.”

The President of Manufacturers’ Association of Israel Shraga Brosh who is accompanying Rivkin and heads the business delegation said, "India represents a great challenge for Israeli manufacturers and this delegation will afford the opportunity to strengthen cooperation and partnership with their Indian counterparts.”