Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen meets India's Narendra Modi

Visit to New Delhi cut short by two days by air strikes on Gaza

Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen and India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi shake hands in New Delhi. Photo: @elicoh1 / Twitter

Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen held talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a visit to New Delhi that was cut short by an emerging security situation at home.

Mr Cohen was on a three-day visit to India but flew home after only a day on Tuesday after the Israeli military's Operation Shield and Arrow air strikes on Gaza killed three Palestinian Islamic Jihad commanders and 10 civilians, including women and children.

He met Mr Modi briefly and discussed deepening strategic ties between the nations.

“India is a world power, the fifth largest economy and the most populous country in the world,” Mr Cohen tweeted.

“I spoke with Modi about strengthening the strategic relations between the countries, expanding the Abraham Accords, and promoting a free-trade agreement that will boost Israel's economy.”

Mr Cohen also met India's Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval during his day-long visit.

The foreign ministers held discussions on agriculture, water, defence and security as well as co-operation in high tech, digital and innovation, connectivity, mobility tourism, finance, and health, Mr Jaishankar said.

The two nations have also signed a letter of intent to establish two centres of water technology in India.

The leaders noted the progress on I2U2 and “exchanged perspectives on our respective regions, Ukraine and Indo-Pacific”, Mr Jaishankar said.

I2U2 is a framework that aims at joint investments and new initiatives in water, energy, transportation, space, health, and food security between India, Israel, the US and UAE.

New Delhi shares strong strategic ties with Tel Aviv and the two nations have strengthened their bilateral ties in recent years, particularly since Mr Modi came to power.

Mr Modi's trip to Israel in 2017 was the first by an Indian prime minister.

India was the only non-Arab country among the 13 countries that voted against the creation of Israel as a separate state under the UN partition plan of Palestine in the General Assembly in 1948.

India recognised Israel two years later and formally established diplomatic relations in January 1992, when it opened its embassy in Tel Aviv.

The country is Israel's third largest trade partner in Asia. Bilateral trade has diversified into sectors that include pharmaceuticals, agriculture, IT and telecom, and homeland security.

India is Israel’s biggest market for military hardware and it supplies the nation with weapon systems, missiles and technology. It supplied arms to India during the Kargil war with Pakistan in 1999.

In recent years, New Delhi has repeatedly abstained from voting at the UN to condemn Israel.

Last year, India abstained from voting at the UN Human Rights Council in a vote to condemn Israeli actions in the occupied Palestinian territories.