Netanyahu expected in Delhi in Sept.

He may make a case for India to align itself less with Iran
Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is planning to travel to India in September just days before he faces election, official and diplomatic sources confirmed to The Hindu . Mr. Netanyahu, who was due to be in Delhi in February, also just ahead of the previous Israeli election, will make a “short visit”, possibly just for a day on September 9, and meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss the bilateral relationship. However, the final date of the visit was being worked out, the sources said. India-Israel relations have been growing rapidly in the past few years, and Mr. Modi became the first Indian Prime Minister to visit Israel in 2017, a visit Mr. Netanyahu returned in January 2018, which marked 25 years since the establishment of full diplomatic relations.

Bilateral talks
In the run-up to the visit, bilateral talks on defence issues have focussed on the emergency procurement of ‘Spike’ anti-tank missiles and the purchase of more precision-guided munitions that were used during the Balakot strikes by the Indian Air Force. The two sides are also discussing a long-pending proposal to buy 2 Phalcon AWACS (warning systems). Mr. Netanyahu’s visit will also come amid rising U.S.-Iran tensions, and he is expected to make a case for India to align itself less with Tehran to join Israel and the U.S. in putting pressure on the regime there.
In a tweet on Friday, Israel’s envoy to India Ron Malka said that Iran, “by promoting state-sponsored terrorism around the globe, is the #1 threat to regional and global peace & security.” While India has fallen in line with the U.S. sanctions on cutting its oil imports from Iran, it retains a strong relationship with the Iranian government, and has publicly expressed its concerns over the impact of a war in West Asia on the millions of Indians living and working in the region. During a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the G20 summit, Mr. Modi listed Iran as one of the “four areas” for discussion, which also included bilateral, defence and telecommunication issues.

Source : https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/netanyahu-expected-in-delhi-in-sept/article28325907.ece

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