[EXCLUSIVE]: Israel Defence Minister Gantz to visit India, meet Rajnath Singh, Doval

New Delhi: Benjamin (Benny) Gantz, the defence minister of Israel, will be in New Delhi on Thursday for talks with defence minister Rajnath Singh and national security advisor Ajit Doval.

Gantz, who was earlier Alternate Prime Minister of Israel, is a retired Army general and high-profile political leader and on the agenda, are closer defence ties between the two countries. In New Delhi till Friday, Gantz will discuss issues that relate to the new mantras of South Block— co-development and co-production with India. This could be advantageous for Israel as its defence industries have been working together with India in the past.

One major project has been the MRSAM or Medium Range Surface to Air Missile for the Indian Air Force and also, the Indian Navy. This was jointly developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation and the Israel Aerospace Industries. India and Israel also have a joint working group at the defence secretary level to work together towards the development and other areas.

Israel has been, along with Russia, France and more recently, the United States of America, a major supplier of military equipment. It is one of the handful of countries involved in defence co-production with India.

The visit by defence minister Gantz comes in the wake of plans for a likely visit by Israel prime minister Naftali Bennett. An earlier visit had to be postponed after a Covid problem.