Calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi a “friend”, Israeli Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday said that people of his country are eagerly awaiting the “historic visit” of PM Modi.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had wished Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday when Israel was celebrating a national holiday to commemorate the flight of the Israelites from Egyptian slavery.
Responding to PM Modi’s good wishes, the Israeli Prime Minister twitted, "Thank you, my friend, for your kind holiday greeting. The people of Israel eagerly await your historic visit."
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to visit Israel later this year although the government is yet to announce the dates.
This will be the first visit to Israel by any Indian Prime Minister since 1992 when the two countries established full-fledged diplomatic relations.
The two leaders had met on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly in New York in September 2014.
Narendra Modi had visited Israel in 2006 when he was the Chief Minister of Gujarat.
In 2015, President Pranab Mukherjee paid a state visit to Israel and addressed Israeli parliament too.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj visited Israel last year to further strengthen the bilateral relations between the two countries.
National Security Adviser Ajit Doval had visited Israel last month to fast-track finalisation of pacts to be signed during PM Modi’s visit.
The two sides are expected to sign multiple defence deals including Spike anti-tank missiles for the Indian army and Barak-8 air defence missiles for the Indian navy.
Israel has emerged as the third-largest arms supplier to India over the last three years.
