Defence Secy Rajesh Kumar Singh Explores Israel Ties

• Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh visited Israel to explore production under Atmanirbhar Bharat
• India and Israel signed an MoU to strengthen defence ties, focusing on AI, cybersecurity, and tech co-development
• The JWG reviewed projects and discussed future collaboration on security challenges, including terrorism

Recently, Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh went to Israel's defense industries to examine the possibilities for production as part of India's undertaking to improve its military capability under the Atmanirbhar Bharat project.

The visit is to explore defence production collaboration, focusing on joint ventures, advanced defence technology, and promoting Make in India initiatives.

Shri Rajesh Kumar Singh, the Indian Defence Secretary, headed the Indian group and visited important Israeli defence firms – Elbit Systems, Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and Israel Aerospace Industries – with the aim of finding the areas suitable for co-production and co-development to collaborate on the existing partnerships and to further the Atmanirbhar Bharat movement.

Singh had already had a meeting with the Minister of Defense of Israel, Israel Katz, in Tel Aviv, where the two leaders once more confirmed their dedication to the enhancement of the already existing defense partnership.

The get-together happened during the 17th Joint Working Group (JWG) on Defence Cooperation session co-chaired by Singh and Maj Gen (Res) Amir Baram, Director General of Israel's Ministry of Defence.

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At the Joint Working Group (JWG) meeting, India and Israel signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for Defence Cooperation, which not only presents a shared vision but also a framework for extensive defence cooperation between the two countries.

The Ministry of Defence stated, “Secretary Shri Rajesh Kumar Singh called on Israeli Defence Minister Mr. Israel Katz and briefed him on the key outcomes of the Joint Working Group (JWG) meeting, aimed at further strengthening the robust and enduring defence cooperation between India and Israel”.

The MoU spans a variety of sectors, including, but not limited to, strategic dialogues, defence industry tie-ups, training, capability building, and cutting-edge technologies like Artificial Intelligence, Cyber Security, and R&D.

The pact is directed towards the joint development and manufacture of hi-tech defence, thus creating a flow of ideas between the defence sectors of India and Israel. The parties also talked about future cooperation in technology and operational capability enhancement while dealing with the mutual security threats, one of which is terrorism.