India, Israel Sign MoU to Deepen Defense Cooperation

02 June 2022, India, New Delhi: Indian Minister of Defense Rajnath Singh (L) receives Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz (R) ahead of their meeting during his official visit to India. (Virender Singh/GPO/dpa)
02 June 2022, India, New Delhi: Indian Minister of Defense Rajnath Singh (L) receives Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz (R) ahead of their meeting during his official visit to India. (Virender Singh/GPO/dpa)
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India, Israel Sign MoU to Deepen Defense Cooperation

02 June 2022, India, New Delhi: Indian Minister of Defense Rajnath Singh (L) receives Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz (R) ahead of their meeting during his official visit to India. (Virender Singh/GPO/dpa)
02 June 2022, India, New Delhi: Indian Minister of Defense Rajnath Singh (L) receives Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz (R) ahead of their meeting during his official visit to India. (Virender Singh/GPO/dpa)

India and Israel signed on Thursday a memorandum of understanding to further deepen their long-standing defense cooperation.

The deal was inked during a meeting between Defense Minister Rajnath Singh and his visiting Israeli counterpart Benny Gantz.

Gantz later met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi for talks on regional developments and challenges and joint interests.

They also tackled international strategic affairs, industrial cooperation and cooperation in weapons research and development.

The MoU marks 30 years of security ties between their countries and agrees to build further cooperation, Gantz’s office said in a statement.

India and Israel had kicked off a series of meetings and events to mark their cooperation.

The ministers declared their intention to further develop defense cooperation in a manner that harnesses Israel’s "technological advance and operational experience", together with India’s "extraordinary development and production capabilities".

"Cooperation between the countries would be in line with Prime Minister Modi’s ‘Make in India’ vision."

In addition, the ministers discussed partnerships within the government-to-government framework, military training, and technological cooperation with a focus on Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) and defensive capabilities.



Grossi Wants to Meet with Iran’s Pezeshkian ‘at Earliest Convenience’

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi speaks to the media at the Dupont Circle Hotel in Washington, US, March 15, 2023. (Reuters)
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi speaks to the media at the Dupont Circle Hotel in Washington, US, March 15, 2023. (Reuters)
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Grossi Wants to Meet with Iran’s Pezeshkian ‘at Earliest Convenience’

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi speaks to the media at the Dupont Circle Hotel in Washington, US, March 15, 2023. (Reuters)
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi speaks to the media at the Dupont Circle Hotel in Washington, US, March 15, 2023. (Reuters)

Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi announced he intends to visit Tehran through a letter he addressed to Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.

Iranian Mehr Agency reported that Grossi sent a congratulatory message to the Iranian president-elect, which stated: “I would like to extend my heartfelt congratulations to you on your election win as President of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

“Cooperation between the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Islamic Republic of Iran has been at the focal attention of the international circles for many years. I am confident that, together, we will be able to make decisive progress on this crucial matter.”

“To that effect, I wish to express my readiness to travel to Iran to meet with you at the earliest convenience,” Iran’s Mehr news agency quoted Grossi as saying.

The meeting – should it take place - will be the first for Pezeshkian, who had pledged during his election campaign to be open to the West to resolve outstanding issues through dialogue.

Last week, American and Israeli officials told the Axios news site that Washington sent a secret warning to Tehran last month regarding its fears of Iranian research and development activities that might be used to produce nuclear weapons.

In May, Grossi expressed his dissatisfaction with the course of the talks he held over two days in Iran in an effort to resolve outstanding matters.

Since the death of the former Iranian president, Ibrahim Raisi, the IAEA chief refrained from raising the Iranian nuclear file, while European sources said that Tehran had asked to “freeze discussions” until the internal situation was arranged and a new president was elected.