India and Israel Tuesday signed a pact on defence cooperation that seeks to provide a unified vision and policy direction to deepen the already strong ties between the two countries, the Ministry of Defence said in a statement.
The MoU was signed during the 17th meeting of Joint Working Group (JWG) on defence cooperation, co-chaired by Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh and Director General of Israeli Ministry of Defense Maj Gen (Res) Amir Baram in Tel Aviv, the statement said.
The statement noted that a wide range of areas for cooperation have been identified in the MoU that will benefit both countries, which include strategic dialogues of mutual interest, training, defence industrial cooperation, and capabilities including science and technology, research & development, and technological innovation, artificial intelligence and cyber security cooperation.
“The MoU will enable the sharing of advanced technology and would promote co-development and co-production,” the ministry noted.
It further added that the JWG reviewed the ongoing defence cooperation initiatives and agreed that both nations have benefited from each other’s strengths. “The two sides discussed the potential areas for future collaboration in the field of technology as well as enhancing operational capabilities,” it said, adding that the two sides also deliberated on various issues, including shared challenges of terrorism and underscored their collective resolve to fight against the threat.
“India-Israel defence partnership is long-standing, based on deep mutual trust and shared security interests,” the ministry noted.
According to a separate statement issued by Israel’s Ministry of Defense, the Indian delegation met with Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz.
