Israel PM's visit to India depends on 'domestic political situation'

After the cancellation of his visit to India last month at the eleventh hour, Israel Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's next visit to the country will depend on the political and security situation back home in the Mediterranean country, Ambassador Naor Gilon informed on Saturday.

"It was cancelled as he contracted COVID. We're working on it. Really depends also on the political and security situation in Israel, both less stable these days but I hope the situation will be stable and visit will come soon," Israel's Ambassador to India Naor Gilon told ANI.

However, the envoy refrained from speculating on the likely dates of the Israel PM's next visit to India.

"I don't want to guess. I thought the visit is already... we were finalized, everything was ready, both from the Indian hosting side and our embassy side. And unfortunately, three days before the visit, everything cancelled. So, you know, I would... prefer not to predict and fail again," Gilon said.

Notably, Naor Gilon is also Israel's Ambassador to Sri Lanka and Bhutan apart from being the Ambassador to India.

PM Bennett's scheduled visit to India in April was called off at the last minute as he tested positive for COVID-19. His visit was to mark 30 years of India-Israel ties.

The visit was also to be Bennet's first visit to India after taking oath as the country's Prime Minister.