Israel’s Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi met late Sunday night in New York shortly after Netanyahu arrived in the city to prepare for his address to the United Nations General Assembly, set for Monday September 29.
Modi is making his first visit at the UN General Assembly since he led his Hindu nationalists to a sweeping victory in April-May elections.
The first such meeting in more than 10 years, both leaders were smiling as Netanyahu expressed “delight” at meeting Modi, and immediately invited him to visit Israel. If the Hindu prime minister of India agrees, it will be a “first.”
The two discussed the threat of Islamic terror in the face of a recent statement by Al Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri announcing the establishment of a new branch of the international terror group in southeast Asia.
Also on the agenda were other security and development issues, among them the matter of international sanctions on doing business with Iran. India is one of the nations that has reduced its import of Iranian oil in compliance with the sanctions – Netanyahu reinforced the importance of that move with an explanation of the threat posed by Iran’s nuclear development program.
“I believe that if we work together, we can do so with benefits for both our peoples and well beyond,” Netanyahu said during a press briefing held during their meeting. “We are very excited by the prospects of greater and greater ties with India. We think the sky’s the limit,” he added, describing both nations as “ancient civilizations” that are also democracies. Modi echoed Netanyahu’s words. “I agree with you that the ties between Israel and India are historic ties.” He added that, “India is the only country where anti-Semitism has never been allowed to come up and where Jews have never suffered and have lived as an integral part of our society.”
Trade between Israel and India at present stands at approximately $6 billion, according to figures published in New Delhi. India is one of Israel’s largest defense industry clients.