Rajnath Singh set to visit Israel next month

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh is set to visit Israel next month, amid a flurry of bilateral engagements, signalling deepening of ties.

Singh is expected to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on November 6, while other relevant meetings were being worked out for the high-level four-day trip, diplomatic sources here told PTI.

It will be the first visit of an Indian home minister to Israel since June 2000 when L K Advani visited Tel Aviv, marked an upsurge in bilateral cooperation.

Singh's visit comes close on the heels of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's meeting with his Israeli counterpart Netanyahu on the sidelines of the UNGA in New York last month.

During that meeting, Netanyahu had said that 'sky is the limit' in terms of prospects of cooperation between the two countries, seeking 'greater and greater' ties with India.

Netanyahu was among the first global leaders to call Modi to congratulate him over his victory in polls.

Meanwhile, Israel's National Security Advisor Joseph Cohen yesterday concluded his three-day visit to Delhi where he met Singh, his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval and senior diplomats at the Ministry of External Affairs.

Cohen is said to have discussed 'common challenges' faced by the two countries and their solutions during his meetings conveying his country's 'willingness to expand cooperation in all fields and in any level'.

The two sides will also be holding their annual foreign ministry consultations in the first week of November with a delegation of officials led by Secretary (East), Anil Wadhwa, visiting Israel.

India is Israel's largest purchaser of defence equipments and the Jewish state is the second largest supplier of arms and armaments for New Delhi, next only to Russia.

The two countries also have a Joint Working Group on counter-terrorism.