EAM S Jaishankar to visit Israel next week to bolster strategic ties between the nations

Indian External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar is set to visit Israel next week, as per social media posts by two top zionist diplomats. On Friday, Ambassador and Director General of the Israeli Foreign Ministry Alan Ushpiz took to Twitter to wish Indians on the occasion of Dussehra. In his tweet, he also mentioned Jaishankar’s “important” visit to Israel and said that India was a close ally and a prominent strategic partner to the country. 

Later, Israel’s ambassador to India Naor Gilon retweeted Ushpiz’s post and said that his country was “excited” to welcome the Indian lawmaker. As of now, details of the visit haven't been revealed-neither by Israeli ambassadors nor by the Indian Foreign Affairs Ministry. Notably, the visit would mark Jaishankar’s maiden visit to the middle eastern state since taking office. 

India-Israel ties 

India officially recognised Israel in September 1950 and since then both the countries share close ties. The bond was bolstered further in 1992 after both of the countries opened embassies in each other's territories. At present both the countries cooperate in the fields of agriculture, trade, defence, S&T, culture and education inter alia. Earlier this year, New Delhi expressed strong support for the zionists as they battled Hamas insurgents in the Gaza Strip. 

Meanwhile, Jaishankar had recently visited Armenia and paid a tribute to the 1.5 million Armenians who were killed in the first genocide of the 20th century at the hands of the Turkish government. The homage was paid at Yerevan's Tsitsernakaberd Memorial Complex erected in memory of the victims of the genocide. "Began the day by paying homage at the Tsitsernakaberd Memorial Complex," tweeted Jaishankar, who is the first Indian External Affairs Minister to visit Armenia.

On October 13, Jaishankar arrived in Yerevan and was greeted by Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan. Jaishankar left for a three-nation tour of Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and Armenia on October 10, according to a statement released by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). During his visit, he also met the President of Armenia's National Assembly, Alen Simonyan and discussed bilateral relations between the two countries.  

(Image: AP/PTI)