JERUSALEM: India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Israel on Wednesday (Feb 25), his counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu announced, saying the trip will help forge a new alliance to counter what he described as “radical” adversaries.
“On Wednesday, the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, will arrive here; he will deliver a speech in the Knesset,” Netanyahu said on Sunday at the opening of a cabinet meeting, referring to Israel’s parliament.
The premier hailed growing ties between the two countries.
“The fabric of relations has grown tighter, and (Modi) is coming here so that we can tighten it even more,” he said, mentioning cooperation in the economic, diplomatic and security spheres.
Modi visited Israel as prime minister in 2017, before Netanyahu made a reciprocal visit to India the following year.
Netanyahu said the Israel-India axis will be part of a wider regional alliance to counter common “radical” adversaries.
“In the vision I see before me, we will create an entire system, essentially a ‘hexagon’ of alliances around or within the Middle East,” the Israeli leader said.
“This includes India, Arab nations, African nations, Mediterranean nations (Greece and Cyprus), and nations in Asia that I won’t detail at the moment,” Netanyahu said, adding that he will further elaborate on his plan in the future.
“The intention here is to create an axis of nations that see eye-to-eye on the reality, challenges, and goals against the radical axes, both the radical Shiite axis, which we have struck very hard, and the emerging radical Sunni axis,” he said.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/world/israel-netanyahu-says-indias-modi-visit-feb-25-5945926
