PM Modi leaves for India after concluding Israel visit

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday left for India after concluding his two-day visit to Israel during which the two countries elevated their “time-tested” relationship to a special strategic partnership.

It was PM Modi's second visit to Israel in nine years. During his visit, PM Modi held talks with his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog.

After the Modi-Netanyahu talks, the two countries inked several agreements and decided to work in the fields of civil and nuclear energy. The two sides vowed to expand their already close defence partnership; agreed to soon firm up a “mutually beneficial” free trade deal even as PM Modi strongly backed the Gaza peace initiative, asserting that humanity must never become a victim of conflict.

India and Israel also discussed the implementation of the India-Middle East Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) and cooperation under the framework of I2U2 (India-Israel-UAE-USA).

Earlier on Wednesday, in a historic address to the Knesset, the Israeli Parliament, Modi described the Gaza Peace Initiative as a path towards “just and durable peace” in the region even as he delivered a powerful message of solidarity with Israel, asserting that “terrorism anywhere threatens peace everywhere.”

Modi was conferred with the ‘Speaker of the Knesset Medal’ in recognition of his exceptional contribution to strengthening strategic relations between India and Israel, thus becoming the first foreign leader to receive the highest honour of the Israeli Parliament.

Modi on Thursday visited Yad Vashem memorial here and paid tributes to the victims of the Holocaust.