New Delhi, June 2
India and Israel on Thursday finalised a vision statement to further step up their overall defence cooperation, especially in the co-production of key military equipment, joint research and development of futuristic technologies for the armed forces.
The decision to further broad-base the already close bilateral defence ties was taken during wide-ranging talks between Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his visiting Israeli counterpart Benjamin Gantz.
A ‘letter of intent’ on enhancing cooperation in the field of futuristic defence technologies was also exchanged between the two ministers, the defence ministry said.
“Both the ministers acknowledged mutual security challenges and their convergences on a number of strategic and defence issues. They expressed commitment to work together to enhance cooperation in all forums,” it said in a statement.
“With the intention to further strengthen the existing framework of the Indo-Israeli defence cooperation architecture, both sides adopted the India-Israel ‘Vision on Defence Cooperation,” it said.
