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Informist, Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026

 

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--PM Modi:India, Israel to soon finalise mutually beneficial free trade pact
--CONTEXT: PM Modi's comments in joint statement post India-Israel meet
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--PM Modi: India, Israel to get into special strategic partnership

 

NEW DELHI – India and Israel have decided to elevate their ties to a "special strategic partnership", Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced Thursday at a joint press conference with his Israeli counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu. "Today, we have taken the historic decision to elevate our time-tested partnership to special strategic partnership," Modi said. He added that the decision is a "reflection of the aspirations of people of both countries".

 

 The prime minister also announced that India and Israel will soon give final shape to a "mutually beneficial" free trade agreement. To encourage mutual financial investment, the two countries had last year signed a bilateral investment agreement.

 

He said technology is going to be at the centre of the two countries' partnership. "Today, we have decided to establish a critical and emerging technology partnership," Modi said. "This will give a boost to cooperation in the fields of artificial intelligence, quantum (computing), and critical minerals." He also lauded the agreement for the use of India's Unified Payments Interface in Israel.

 

Modi said India and Israel have been cooperating in the defence sector for decades and will now move towards joint development and production with transfer of technology. They will also move forward with cooperation in civil nuclear energy and space research and exploration.

 

He said the two countries have a long history of cooperation in the field of agriculture and have now decided to give it a "futuristic direction". Looking at the success of centres of excellence set up with Israel's support, India has decided to increase their number to 100, he said.

 

India is also working on creating "villages of excellence" through which Israeli technology will reach every village in India and the income and productivity of millions of farmers will greatly increase, the prime minister said. The two countries will also develop future-ready farming solutions, he added.

 

"Today we had a wide discussion on regional and global issues," Modi said. "Promoting regional connectivity, we will move forward with new momentum on India-Middle East-Europe and India-Israel-UAE-US economic corridors."

 

The prime minister reiterated that India is clear that terrorism has no place in the world. It cannot be accepted in any form or any expression. "We have been standing shoulder to shoulder in opposing terrorism and their supporters, and will continue to do so," he said.

 

"India's security interests are directly linked to peace and stability in West Asia," he continued. "That is why we have supported dialogue and peaceful solutions from the beginning. This is the call of the Global South and of all humanity."

 

He said the Gaza Peace Plan has created a path to peace in the region and India supports these efforts. "We will continue dialogue and cooperation with all countries in the future also," he said.  End

 

Reported by Asim Khan and Priyasmita Dutta

Edited by Rajeev Pai

 

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