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Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi stood at the Knesset podium on Wednesday afternoon and spoke the post-October 7 language of friendship that Israeli leaders love to hear.
“We feel your pain. India stands with Israel firmly, with full conviction in this moment and beyond,” the prime minister of the world’s most populous country told Israeli parliamentarians after landing in Israel for an official state visit. “Nothing justifies terror.”
He went on to say that India would stand with Israel in all counterterrorism efforts, stressing that confronting terrorism requires “sustained and coordinated global action.”
Modi explicitly linked India’s own security experience to Israel’s current war, saying New Delhi supports “all efforts that contribute to regional peace and stability.”
He described Israel as “a powerhouse of innovation and technological leadership,” calling the relationship between the two countries “a natural basis for a future-oriented partnership.”
The two PMs give their remarks
India and Israel, Modi said, are “ancient civilizations,” bound not only by interests but by shared experience. He pointed to the establishment of a parliamentary friendship group, commitments to expand trade and investment, and the bilateral investment treaty signed last year, which he said provided “certainty and clear prospects” for businesses in both countries.
He closed with “Am Yisrael hai,” drawing chants of “Modi” from the plenum and a standing ovation. Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana then placed the Knesset Medal around Modi’s neck at the podium.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, welcoming Modi moments earlier, told those gathered the visit was a marker of how far the relationship has moved in the past couple of years. Calling Modi “a great friend of Israel, and a great leader on the world stage,” Netanyahu said the two countries had doubled trade in recent years and built what he described as “a wondrous friendship.”
“The alliance between us is an enormous multiplier,” Netanyahu said, thanking Modi for his “unwavering” support since October 7. “We are two democracies. We are now deepening our deep bond. Israel is stronger than ever, and India is stronger than ever.”
In an interview with The Jerusalem Post on the eve of the visit, Indian Ambassador JP Singh described Modi’s visit as a turning point, which could usher in “a new phase… a new chapter” in India-Israel relations, as it has been almost a decade since there has been a bilateral summit at the highest level. “Prime Minister Mr. Modi is visiting after almost nine years… this visit is going to be a very historic visit,” Singh said, reiterating its significance and timing.
Israel and India’s growing relationship
The Indian prime minister last visited Israel in 2017, when the two countries upgraded their relationship to what New Delhi labeled a strategic partnership. This move, and the subsequent visit by Netanyahu to India in 2018, laid the foundation for future cooperation in the realms of defense and technological innovation.
The strong relationship between India and Israel that exists nowadays took many years to form. For decades, following India’s recognition of the State of Israel in 1950, the Indian government kept its relationship with Jerusalem low-key, for reasons of historical support for the Palestinian cause and other geopolitical considerations.
Even when full diplomatic relations were established in 1992, it would take another quarter of a century for an Indian prime minister to make a formal state visit.
This began to shift under Modi’s leadership. In 2017, his historic visit to Israel represented something of a break with the past – a move from distant diplomacy to direct engagement, especially in security and technology. As one veteran watcher of the relationship explained at the time, “The relationship is moving from arms sales to a more strategic partnership based on capability and need.”
On the defense side, New Delhi has been one of Israel’s most important partners, particularly in terms of air defense systems, unmanned aerial vehicles, and precision-guided munitions.
Over the past decade, Israeli arms exports to India have been on the rise, as India has continued to develop its own domestic military market, and the partnership has expanded from simple collaborations to joint ventures, local production agreements that fit India’s “Atmanirbhar Bharat” or self-reliance strategies.
Modi has given the timeline of 2047 – the century of Indian independence – for his nation to reduce significantly its dependency on foreign nations.
Indian leaders have described this modernization drive as part of a larger national strategy to achieve defense self-sufficiency. The drive for indigenous development, from aircraft carriers to artillery guns, is all part of Modi’s long-term vision of a self-reliant India.
JPost gets a glance at India’s military capabilities
India’s military strength was on display for the Post over the past week, thousands of kilometers east of the Knesset, in the deserts of Rajasthan in northwestern India and the waters of the Bay of Bengal.
The Pokhran Field Firing Ranges in the state of Rajasthan, some 100 kilometers from the Pakistani border, hosted Exercise Agni Varsha on Tuesday, a major live-fire exercise aimed at proving the operational readiness of the Indian Army’s combat capabilities in a desert environment. The Post was on hand to witness the culmination of a major army exercise that showcased how India carries out modern land warfare.
Pokhran is no ordinary range. For several decades, it has been one of India’s premier testing grounds, as much a site for testing new weapons as for conducting military exercises. The range is flat, open, and harsh, with a feel of the Negev about it. Agni Varsha was conducted in several stages, with modern-age drone warfare combined with artillery, air support, and infantry to show India’s capabilities.
The mechanized forces moved into the range with T-90S main battle tanks leading the way, accompanied by BMP-2K infantry fighting vehicles. The tanks were protected by artillery fire from K-9 Vajra 155-mm., 52-caliber self-propelled howitzers, the Indian-manufactured version of the South Korean K-9 Thunder, and towed artillery systems positioned further back in the battlespace.
Overhead, the Army Aviation Corps offered close air support and reconnaissance. Indigenous Rudra light attack helicopters, developed by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited as the armed variant of the Dhruv family, operated in conjunction with AH-64E Apache Guardian attack helicopters with their Israeli technology.
Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) were also given the chance to show what they are capable of. Approximately a dozen fixed- and rotary-wing UAVs were employed across intelligence gathering, surveillance, reconnaissance, and strike missions. Some provided persistent surveillance of advancing troops, while others were used to direct artillery and air assets to targets identified in real time.
Throughout the range, large display boards outlined the development of India’s ISR architecture: space-based electro-optical and electronic intelligence satellites, airborne surveillance platforms, ground-based battlefield surveillance and weapon-locating radars, and the networking infrastructure that connected sensors to shooters.
Artillery forces demonstrated quick “shoot and scoot” maneuvers, firing salvos before relocating to avoid the effects of counterbattery fire.
Special attention was given to the Shakti Fire Control System, an indigenous automated fire control network intended to integrate multiple artillery systems into a unified operational picture. According to Indian officers, the Shakti Fire Control System represents an important step toward reducing dependence on foreign command-and-control systems and improving response times on the battlefield.
Advancements shaped by real-world experience
Cumulatively, Agni Varsha presented a telescoped perspective on the Indian Army’s process of reorganizing itself for high-tempo operations. Desert warfare has always been a factor in planning along Western India, but the way in which the exercise was conducted indicated a force increasingly influenced by the lessons of recent conflicts around the world, where situational awareness and precision are as important as mass.
These lessons are grounded in real-life experience, which the Indian Armed Forces soberly experienced last year.
Several officers speaking with the Post cited Operation Sindoor – the Indian Army’s 2025 counterterrorism operation following a terrorist attack by Pakistani-based terrorist groups, which left 26 civilians dead in Kashmir last April – as a formative factor in recent doctrine.
Sindoor, which is a mark of pride for the Indians in their response, was characterized by Indian Army planners as a limited, intelligence-led use of force intended to impose costs without necessarily risking escalation.
A glimpse of the Indian Army’s capabilities was on show during Sindoor, according to officers who spoke to the Post during Agni Varsha – where justice and not revenge was the dish of the day, according the officers.
In off-the-cuff conversations on the sidelines of the range, comparisons to Israel naturally arose.
There was no need to ask officers about Israeli experience – every single officer spoke of their admiration for Israel. Not just of its military capabilities, but the mindset that comes along with it. They spoke freely of studying Israeli operational experience, especially in contexts where non-state actors operate with the tacit support of states, embed themselves among civilian populations, and seek to provoke overreaction.
For India, the challenge from Pakistan-supported extremist groups has been an old one. The change that has occurred in recent years is the willingness to act with speed and precision while being politically and militarily restrained. This, according to officers, is in line with Israeli experience in dealing with Hamas and Hezbollah.
India’s Bay of Bengal naval demonstration
Prior to the desert, the Post spent time in the east of the country, along the Bay of Bengal, where the Indian Navy’s maritime ambitions were being showcased.
Off the coast of Visakhapatnam, India’s Eastern Naval Command hosted the International Fleet Review 2026, its growing maritime power on display for a gathering of home and foreign audiences. The fleet review kicked off a series of large-scale maritime events, including the Milan naval exercises, which brought together more than 100 countries and put them in touch with the Indian Navy over the course of the week.
Presiding over the ceremonial review, which took place with the participation of 74 countries, was India’s President Droupadi Murmu, acting in her constitutional role as supreme commander of the armed forces. From the offshore waters outside the port, with the Post following just behind, she reviewed the Indian warships along with warships and aircraft from 21 foreign navies, a show of the growing Indian convening power in the maritime sector.
The fleet review was a ceremonial affair, designed to showcase goodwill and mutual respect among the navies that took part. However, the size of the event was significant in itself. A total of 100 warships participated in the fleet review and the accompanying exercises, which included aircraft carriers, destroyers, frigates, corvettes, submarines, patrol craft, amphibious ships, and naval aircraft.
At the heart of the formation was INS Vikrant, the Indian Navy’s first indigenous-designed and constructed aircraft carrier. INS Vikrant was commissioned in 2022 and has since become the symbol of the Indian Navy’s efforts to achieve self-reliance in the maritime sector.
The Post took the opportunity to visit the INS Vikrant during the fleet review and see the carrier’s operations on the flight deck and the daily life of a ship that is now the fulcrum of the Indian Navy’s carrier battle group strategy.
The aircraft carrier, a symbol of what Modi’s vision can accomplish, is a significant achievement in the country’s shipbuilding, systems integration, and operational prowess. It is now the flagship of the Indian Eastern Carrier Group, which extends New Delhi’s power projection capabilities from the Bay of Bengal to the broader Indo-Pacific region.
In company with Vikrant were newer generations of Indian-built warships such as the Visakhapatnam-class guided missile destroyers, Nilgiri-class Project 17A frigates, and Arnala-class anti-submarine corvettes. Submarines also made an appearance, with Shindughosh-class boats operating within the larger formation.
Naval airpower also added to the complexity. MiG-29K fighter aircraft embarked on carrier operations, while maritime patrol aircraft and helicopters performed flybys for the president. The combination of air and sea power on display demonstrated how far the Indian Navy has come since the last fleet review in Visakhapatnam in 2016.
India’s military moving away from old, foreign equipment
The Indian military still uses equipment from Russia, Israel, France, Italy, and other countries, which is a challenge in terms of logistics and maintenance. Managing these difficulties and still staying battle-ready is a challenge India’s military has risen to.
But the future path seems to be an apparent one. Whether it is Agni Varsha or the fleet review, the Indian military is moving in the right direction toward autonomy.
With that said, Israel still holds a special position in its dealings with the subcontinental nation, which is home to one-sixth of the world’s people.
Over the last two decades, Israel has become one of the most important defense partners of India, providing cutting-edge solutions in the areas of land, air, and sea. According to a report by the Post on defense expenditure up to 2024, the “procurement policy of India has been gradually shifting towards joint development, technology absorption, and indigenous manufacturing, instead of outright purchase.”
Israeli solutions have acted as a gateway, or a point of entry, into new technologies such as sensors, precision-guided munitions, and electronic warfare, which are then developed and indigenized in the Indian defense industry. This was evident in the manner in which Indian military officers and defense industry leaders referred to Israel throughout the week.
Vivek Krishnan, the CEO of SSS Defence, a Bangalore-based company producing small arms, ammunition, and accessories, told the Post that while his company has not replicated its solutions from Israeli weapons, it has been inspired by the Israeli way of doing things in the defense industry.
“What we’ve taken inspiration from is the Israeli ethos of being a military industrial power,” Krishnan said. “Israel has a long history of doing things on its own. That’s been very inspirational for us.”
Krishnan spoke of self-reliance as a necessity, not a goal. “India is a very large country. We have neighbors we cannot always control. Just as you do. So being self-reliant is an absolute necessity.”
SSS Defence has a full-scale manufacturing unit churning out ammunition for the home and international markets. Krishnan emphasized that the size of India’s ambition is not merely about the military but also about the requirements of internal security, which covers the entire country and various states.
Indian military officials’ positive perspective on Israel
The most appealing aspect of Israel, according to him, is its commitment to “constantly evolving.” “You don’t use the same weapon for 30 years. You adapt. You change. Your OEMs [original equipment manufacturers] evolve quickly. That’s something we respect.”
This attitude was heard time and again from interactions with military personnel.
Indian military personnel from all ranks spoke highly of Israel, its people, its grit, and its military. Some spoke of their personal experiences of exchanges, whether training in the country or welcoming Israeli partners to India, and long-term relationships with Israeli military personnel.
Others spoke more generally about the capacity of Israeli society to absorb shocks, mobilize, and remain cohesive even under extreme stress. Many officers questioned the Post about the notion of an upcoming war with Iran, and the Israeli “attitude” of “we will deal with whatever comes our way.”
What emerged over the past week, from the deserts of the northwestern frontier and the eastern coast of Visakhapatnam, was a sense of Indian coherence. For the country, its military, and its expanding technological start-up sphere, the future is bright.
Modern technology meets Indian tradition, and the convergence is a force to be reckoned with. The Indian military is marching forward in its goal to operate independently, adapt rapidly, and remain resilient against the threats its borders face.
As Modi stood in the Knesset on Wednesday and declared “Am Yisrael hai,” expressing his friendship toward Israel, the Post was 4,000 kilometers away, witnessing India’s military capabilities firsthand. Modi’s speech and India’s military capabilities are a reminder that this friendship is both positive and necessary for the years ahead.
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