The Indian Defence Minister and Israel's Defense Minister exchanged a 'Letter of Intent' and adopted a 'Vision Statement' in order to strengthen their mutual defence ties.

Israel is one of India's most important defence partners, delivering a wide spectrum of high-tech defence equipment.

Last year, the Army leased four Heron-TP Medium Altitude Long Endurance UAVs from Israel Aircraft Industries in response to the standoff with China in eastern Ladakh, and they have since been incorporated.

Several joint development projects between the two countries are in the works, including the Long-Range Surface-to-Air Missile (Barak-8) for the Indian Navy's warships.

In April 2022, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited signed a Memorandum of Understanding with IAI to convert six Boeing-767 civil passenger planes into mid-air refuelling planes for the Indian Air Force in India.

The two countries' defence ministers presented a joint declaration commemorating 30 years of Israel-India relations.

The declaration reaffirmed both countries' commitment to strengthening defence ties.

Both sides approved the India-Israel Vision on Défense Cooperation with the goal of further strengthening the existing framework of Indo-Israeli defence cooperation.

A letter of intent was also exchanged to improve collaboration in the realm of futuristic defence technologies.

The countries' cooperation will be in accordance with Prime Minister Modi's Make in India initiative.

The 15th India-Israel Joint Working Group (JWG) meeting on bilateral defence cooperation was conducted in October 2021, and this roadmap was agreed upon.

The Joint Working Group (JWG) is the apex body between the two countries' defence ministries, tasked with reviewing and guiding all aspects of bilateral defence cooperation.

Source: The Hindu