Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Israel trip proved a great success. Bilateral ties between the two countries have been elevated to a strategic partnership. Modi and Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu got on extremely well. Netanyahu described the partnership as a ‘marriage made in heaven’. Policy synergies have emerged. A number of agreements have been signed in such sectors as agriculture, water conservation and satellite technologies. India is already Israel’s largest defence client. The collaboration is expected to expand considerably. New Delhi is looking forward to the supply of armed drones from Tel Aviv. India and Israeli companies inked strategic pacts worth $4.3 billion. About thirty CEOs from both sides promised to develop economic and investment ties. A $40 million innovation fund is on the way.
Besides, there will be a direct flight between India and Israel. Rules for overseas citizen cards for people of Indian origin residing in Israel are being simplified. People-to-people contact has been appreciably enhanced. Netanyahu has spoken of a human bridge between India and Israel. Modi met 26/11 survivor Moshe Holtzberg and visited the India War Cemetery in Haifa. Throughout the parleys, people formed the core of the efforts to cement bilateral ties. That an Indian Prime Minister visited Israel only now after 70 years, in itself, shows that the present Government has a larger and strategic vision of what diplomacy is all about. The Haifa visit was particularly remarkable since it is an integral part of our history (1918) and one that is lesser known by this generation. Jodhpur, Hyderabad, Mysore cavalry brigade also known as the 15th Imperial Brigade fought the last cavalry war in World War I. After the Battle of Haifa cavalry brigades became untenable since the world had progressed to tankers and machine guns.