Indian Army Chief General Naravane leaves for 5-day visit to Israel to boost defence ties

Army Chief General MM Naravane on Sunday, November 14, proceeded for a 5-day visit to Israel. The visit is aimed to further strengthen India’s defence and security cooperation with the Jewish state. This comes following External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Defence Secretary Ajay Kumar's visit to Israel during which they explored ways to boost strategic ties. 

Earlier in August, the then Air Chief Marshal R K S Bhadauria had also travelled to Israel. Indian Army wrote on Twitter, “General MM Naravane #COAS proceeded on a five-day visit to #Israel. The visit aims to further strengthen strategic defence cooperation between both countries". 

Gen Naravane leaves for Israel

While the Ministry of Defence said in a statement, the Army Chief will hold multiple meetings with senior officials of the security establishments to take forward the excellent bilateral defence cooperation between Israel and India. The statement further informed that Gen Naravane will interact with Service Chiefs and exchange views on various defence-related issues. 

Earlier on November 9, India and Israel signed an agreement to jointly develop next-generation technologies and products such as drones, robotics, artificial intelligence, and quantum computing.

Over the last few years, Israel has been supplying various weapon systems, missiles, and unmanned aerial vehicles to India. The transactions have largely remained behind the curtains though India has been a major buyer of Israel’s military hardware 

Indian Army Chief briefed on Manipur ambush

On Saturday, November 13, General Manoj Mukund Naravane was briefed about the ambush on an Assam Riffles convoy in Manipur, where a colonel, his two family members, and four jawans were killed. Sources stated that to nab the terrorists involved in the incident, an operation in the area has been launched. To further prevent the escape of the terrorists involved in the attack, a close watch is being kept on the Myanmar border.

On Saturday, the Commanding Officer of 46 Assam Riffles Colonel Viplav Tripathi had visited his forward camp and on his way back, his convoy was ambushed. The terrorists first carried out an IED blast to ambush the convoy of 46 Assam Rifles Commanding Officer Colonel Viplav Tripathi and then fired at the vehicles in Churachandpur, Manipur, according to the officials. 

With ANI inputs

Image: ANI