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Defence Secretary Shri Rajesh Kumar Singh and Major General (Res.) Amir Baram, Director General of the Israel Ministry of Defence, held a high-level bilateral meeting in New Delhi on July 23, 2025. This significant diplomatic engagement underscores the growing convergence between India and Israel in strategic and defence cooperation.
Both nations are looking to upgrade their defence and security architecture through hardware partnerships, institutional linkages, counterterrorism cooperation, and technology transfer arrangements. The key outcome of this meeting was a mutual commitment to strengthen bilateral defence cooperation with a long-term strategic perspective. Both sides agreed to work toward developing a formal institutional framework for regular dialogues, joint projects, defence-industrial collaboration, and research and development (R&D) programs under a structured and policy-driven umbrella.
This commitment reflects India’s “Aatmanirbhar Bharat” initiative and Israel’s push for collaborative defence exports. Major General Baram condemned the recent terrorist attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, and extended full support to India’s counterterrorism efforts. Defence Secretary Singh reiterated India’s zero-tolerance approach to terrorism and condemned the October 7, 2023 terrorist attacks in Israel, calling for immediate release of hostages.
The meeting also reviewed ongoing defence collaboration projects discussed during the last Joint Working Group (JWG) meeting held in July 2024. These included joint R&D initiatives in drone technology, radar systems, and artificial intelligence applications; modernization programs leveraging Israeli experience in cyber-defence, surveillance, and smart border solutions; joint exercises and training programs involving special forces and intelligence-sharing frameworks; and defence industrial cooperation under the Make in India programme.
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Both sides expressed satisfaction with the pace of collaboration and potential for future scaling. The visit by Major General Baram to India shortly after his appointment as DG of Israel MoD marks a pivotal moment in their evolving defence relationship, highlighting Israel’s commitment to India as a strategic partner in Asia.
Over the past decade, the India-Israel defence relationship has grown exponentially, moving beyond arms transfers to include technology partnerships, joint manufacturing, and innovation ecosystems in sectors such as cybersecurity, electronic warfare, and space defence. The latest bilateral engagement signals deeper maturation of these ties, shaped by shared democratic values, mutual security interests, and a vision for regional and global stability.
Both sides are expected to move forward on drafting a comprehensive institutional framework for bilateral defence engagement, possibly leading to an annual ministerial-level strategic dialogue, a defence innovation corridor, and increased tri-service cooperation. Such frameworks would offer continuity, predictability, and structure to the growing India-Israel defence matrix.
As India continues to modernize its armed forces and build indigenous capacity, and as Israel seeks reliable partners for co-creation and co-export of advanced military systems, this partnership stands at the cusp of transformational growth.
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