JERUSALEM — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi pledged to stand with Israel in “opposing terrorism and its supporters” as he wrapped up a two-day visit on Thursday focused on boosting cooperation on security issues and defence. The two countrues also announced they would hold discussions on a possible free trade agreement. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at a news conference with Modi that “the limitations that constrained us in previous times no long constrain us.” “The future belongs to those who innovate and Israel and India are bent on innovation,” he added. India — a nuclear power and the world’s fourth largest economy — has grown closer to Israel under Modi, whose rise helped mainstream Hindu nationalism in a country where roughly 14 per cent of the population is Muslim. “Terrorism cannot be accepted in any form or expression,” Modi said. ”We have been shoulder-to-shoulder opposing terrorism and its supporters and will continue to do so.” Modi and Netanyahu in a joint statement referenced the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel that triggered the war in Gaza and an April 2025 attack on tourists and civilians in Pahalgam, in Indian-controlled Kashmir. They also said they would foster collaboration on technologies such as artificial intelligence and cybersecurity. They both lauded U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan to advance the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. It was also announced that 50,000 more Indian nationals will get visas to work in Israel, where tens of thousands of South Asians have filled construction and caregiving jobs since new restrictions were placed on Palestinian laborers at the start of the war between Israel and the militant Hamas group in October 2023. India has historically supported the establishment of a Palestinian state yet has sometimes abstained from criticism of Israel in international forums, including in voting at the United Nations about the war in Gaza. However, it was among the countries earlier this month that condemned Israeli measures that effectively deepen its control over the occupied West Bank. India stopped importing Iranian oil during Trump’s first term at the urging of the United States even as it has historically maintained ties to Tehran, cooperating on trade and security matters, particularly regarding Afghanistan.
