When Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that India and the United States were natural allies, it echoed another natural ally that the BJP thinks India should have, rather must have. Israel.
Narendra Modi's meeting with his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu is one of the first engagements that the latter has in New York when he arrives to attend the 69th session of the United Nations General Assembly.
Modi's ties with Israel are strong and enduring. As the Chief Minister of Gujarat, he encouraged businessmen of the state to visit Israel and deepen links in trade, infrastructure and water desalination projects.
India is also the second-largest Asian economic partner of Israel. In 2010, bilateral trade, excluding military sales, stood at USD 4.7 billion.
The Congress government in 1992 established diplomatic ties with Israel, but it was under Prime Minister Vajpayee of the BJP that ties with Israel got strong encouragement.
No Indian Prime Minister has visited Israel so far, and Prime Minister Modi might just be the first one to do so in the coming years.
Ariel Sharon was the first Israeli Prime Minister to make an official visit to India in September 2003. Sharon invited Vajpayee to visit Israel, but the visit never took place.
The two countries have extensive strategic, economic and defence ties. The two prime ministers will have a meeting of minds on several issues of global interest, especially when it comes to peace and stability in the South Asian region, including Afghanistan.
More than 40,000 Israelis, mostly youth, after finishing their military service, visit India annually. But Israel, doesn't figure in the top tourism destinations for Indians, with less than a hundred thousand visiting the Jewish state annually.
Narendra Modi could change that, if Netanyahu invites him and if he accepts the invitation.
