Israel PM Naftali Bennett to visit India in early April: MEA

Naftali Bennett, the Israeli Prime Minister, will be making the first official visit to India in early from April to April 5, 2022, India’s Ministry of External Affairs confirmed on Tuesday. Bennett was invited for the state visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The state visit in April will also commemorate 30 years of diplomatic relations between India and Israel. 

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“The purpose of the visit is to advance and strengthen the strategic alliance between the countries, and to expand bilateral ties”, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s office said in a statement.

The two world leaders will also discuss boosting cooperation in areas like research and development, agriculture, economy and innovation.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi became the first ever to have an official state visit to Israel in July 2017 in an attempt to boost bilateral relations between the two nations. Bennett described it as a “deep relationship.”

“Modi restarted relations between India and Israel, and this is of historic importance. The relations between our two unique cultures — the Indian culture and the Jewish culture — are deep, and they rely on meaningful collaborations,”  Bennett said in a statement, according to reports from Times of India.

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“I am delighted to pay my first official visit to India at the invitation of my friend, Prime Minister Modi, and together we will continue leading the way for our countries’ relations,” Bennett added.

The state visit comes as both India and Israel are considered to be key stakeholders in the ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia. Israel is playing mediator between the two nations, while Prime Minister Narendra Modi has maintained frequent contact with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin.