Netanyahu-Modi to deepen India-Israel ties

New Delhi, May 19: Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that India's Prime Minister-designate Narendra Modi himself has expressed his desire to deepen and develop ties with Israel.

"On Friday, I spoke with the PM-elect of India. There, too, is a clear expression of the desire to deepen and develop economic ties with the state of Israel," Netanyahu told his cabinet at its weekly meeting.
Netanyahu, who is looking to strengthen economic ties with fellow Asian nations, has recently put a lot of emphasis on promoting bilateral trade with India, China, Japan and other Asian countries. This strategy is driven by the fact that Israel that Asia is likely to overtake the Jewish state's close ally US as the largest export destination.
Netanyahu did not lose time in reaching out to Modi as part of his goal to benefit from untapped potential in the huge market there. While relations between India and Israel have deepened and diversified ever since a diplomatic equation was established in 1992, the ties got a particularly major impetus while the NDA was in power.