India-Israel Vision Statement on Defence Cooperation

June 3, 2022

India and Israel have signed a ‘vision Statement’ with the aim of further deepening the long-standing defence cooperation between both nations. This statement was signed at a meeting held between Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Benny Gantz, defence minister of Israel. Israel’s defence minister emphasized the need to invest further in defence cooperation between both countries.

How will this vision statement help further ties between both nations?

Israel is a technological superpower while India is an industrial superpower, thus, cooperation between both nations will help in expanding the individual capabilities. India and Israel are facing similar challenges, including fighting terrorism and border security. Hence, both nations by working together will be able to boost their capabilities and ensure the economic and security interests of both countries. A Letter of Intent was also exchanged between both ministers to enhance cooperation in the field of futuristic defence technologies.

What topics were discussed?

The discussion held included topics such as:

military cooperation
strategic global challenges
joint Research and Development
defence industrial cooperation

The ministers also discussed a cooperation agreement that was signed between the Indian Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Israel’s Directorate for Defence R&D. This agreement will help enable the expansion of developmental and technological collaboration between both nations. Also, the Ministers discussed partnerships about:

military training
defensive capabilities
technological cooperation focusing on Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV)

When did India and Israel agree to form a task force to formulate to identify new areas of cooperation?

In October 2021, Israel and India had agreed to form a task force with the aim of formulating a 10-year roadmap to identify new cooperation areas so as to further the defence cooperation. This was agreed upon at the 15th India-Israel Joint Working Group (JWG) meeting on bilateral defence cooperation that was held on 27^th October 2021 in Tel Aviv, Israel. The JWG is the apex body to guide and review all aspects of bilateral defence cooperation between both nations. Also, a Sub Working Group (SWG) on defence industry cooperation was formed to enable efficient utilisation of resources, effective technology flow and sharing of various industrial capabilities.

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