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India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi flew to Israel on Wednesday for a two-day visit to deepen ties with a key trade and defence partner, stirring criticism at home.

Our nations share a robust and multifaceted strategic partnership,” Modi said in a departure statement, saying he will meet his counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu and address the Knesset, Israel’s parliament.

 

“Ties have significantly strengthened in the last few years.”

 

New Delhi has steadily expanded co-operation with Israel across the defence, agriculture, technology and cyber-security sectors while balancing diplomatic interests in the Middle East.Talks opened in New Delhi on Monday for an India-Israel Free Trade Agreement (FTA), India’s government said in a statement, noting that total merchandise trade was $3.62 billion in 2024–2025.

 

Modi said he would hold talks with Netanyahu to “discuss ways to strengthen co-operation”, as well as meet Israeli President Isaac Herzog.

 

Full diplomatic relations between the two countries were established in 1992. Ties deepened after Hindu-nationalist leader Modi took office in 2014.

 

Modi visited Israel as prime minister in 2017, before Netanyahu made a reciprocal visit to India the following year.

 

Both right-wing leaders have called each other a “friend”.

 

In September 2023, grand plans were unveiled in New Delhi for an India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor – to link railways, ports, electricity, data networks and pipelines, including through Saudi Arabia and Israel.

 

Those plans were stalled by Hamas’s October 7 actions against Israel, which responded with a devastating war in the Gaza Strip, killing over 71,000 Palestinians.

 

One of India’s largest conglomerates, Adani Group, operates the Mediterranean port of Haifa, while Israeli military drone technology was deployed against Pakistan during the conflict between the two nuclear powers in May 2025.

 

At the same time, India maintains strong relations with Gulf nations and Tehran, including developing Iran’s Chabahar port — a trade gateway to Afghanistan, where New Delhi has built a relationship with Taliban authorities.

 

Modi displaying ‘moral cowardice’: Congress

On the other hand, the opposition Indian National Congress launched a scathing attack on Modi over his visit to Israel.

 

Senior Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi — sister of opposition leader Rahul Gandhi — said she hoped Modi would mention the killing of “thousands of innocent men, women and children in Gaza” when he addresses Israel’s parliament and demand “justice for them”.

 

“India has stood for what is right throughout our history as an independent nation, we must continue to show the light of truth, peace and justice to the world,” she said on X.

 

Trump keeps the world guessing on his Iran options during annual State of the Union speech

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump opened the foreign-policy portion of his State of the Union address tonight with a carefully calibrated message on Iran, stating that his “preference is to solve this problem through diplomacy” while warning he would “never” allow Tehran to acquire a nuclear weapon.

 

The formulation, which projected readiness for talks while keeping the option of military force deliberately ambiguous, reflected his broader doctrine of “peace through strength.

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US President Donald Trump delivers the State of the Union address in the House Chamber of the US Capitol in Washington, DC, US on February 24, 2026. — Reuters

Trump argued that a rebuilt US military and higher defence spending by Nato allies had strengthened Washington’s hand.

 

At the same time, he asserted that Iran was developing missiles capable of reaching the United States and complained: “We haven’t heard those secret words (from Iran): ‘We will never have a nuclear weapon.’”

 

He blamed Tehran for pursuing a “sinister nuclear program” and claimed that earlier US strikes had “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear weapons capabilities.

 

Trump’s Tuesday night State of the Union address lasted one hour and 47 minutes — the longest before a joint session of Congress in at least six decades, according to the American Presidency Project

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