NEW DELHI: As Prime Minister
Narendra Modi embarks on his first visit to
Israel
on Tuesday, the middle-eastern country has already hailed the bilateral meet as "successful and historic."
"There is a huge symbolic significance of the visit by the Indian Prime Minister. The historic first visit by PM Narendra Modi to Israel is going to be very successful," Israel's foreign ministry spokesperson
Mark Sofer
said at a press conference on Monday.
PM Modi's visit comes 25 years after the two countries established full diplomatic ties. Israel once again attested to its strong ties with India and hopes to deepen cooperation in a range of areas.
"PM Netanyahu will escort and accompany PM Modi during his visit. This is not a practice we extended to other dignitaries. It is part of the indication from our perspective indicating the importance we attach with this visit," said Yuval Rotem, DG of Israeli foreign ministry.
The Israeli prime minister too referred to PM Modi as "my friend" and said he would be by the side of his Indian counterpart at many events during his visit.
"Tomorrow, my friend Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will arrive in Israel... I will accompany Prime Minister Narendra Modi at many events during his visit, as befits the leader of the largest democracy in the world," Netanyahu said in a tweet on Monday.
While India is Israel's biggest arms market, buying weapons at an average of $1 billion each year, the Israeli foreign ministry stressed that there is more to PM Modi's bilateral visit than arms deals. Though
defence
is an important field of cooperation, the two sides are expected to announce strategic partnerships in the areas of water, agriculture, energy, science and space technology.
"This visit has concrete ramifications for Israel and India. One of the key issues we'll focus on is water and agriculture. Both countries agree that this is a field crucial for our future relations and we'll finalise a joint strategic partnership in usage of water for agricultural purposes," Sofer said.
PM Modi will also be discussing a plan for Israeli help in boosting India's food security. On Monday, the Prime Minister said in a tweet that boosting economic ties and furthering people-to-people interactions will be the agenda of his Israel visit.
Modi's three-day visit beginning Tuesday is aimed at commemorating 25 years of establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries and will also see discussions between him and his Israeli counterpart
Benjamin Netanyahu to explore ways to enhance cooperation in key strategic areas.
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