Israeli President Reuven Rivlin will arrive in Indian for a six-day visit on November 15. Last year, Indian President Pranab Mukherjee became the first Indian head of state to travel to Israel. But he had to take care to balance his visit by spending time with the Palestinian Authority as well.
Other Indian PMs have largely avoided meeting Israeli leaders and have entrusted the task to diplomats and intelligence officials. But Modi has publicly met his counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu and Rivlin and is upfront about his desire to visit Israel unlike his predecessors who never even considered this a possibility.
"India is particularly interested in strengthening security cooperation with Israel. Counter terrorism and defense will be prominent areas of discussion between the two countries," sources in the Ministry of External Affairs told Sputnik.
Rivlin's arrival may pave the way for Narendra Modi to become the first Indian Prime Minister to visit Israel. Despite making a commitment to Netanyahu, Modi couldn't find the political space to travel to Tel Aviv and instead dispatched Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj early this year.
"Maintaining a fine balance in relationship with both Israel and Palestine is a hallmark of India's West Asia policy. India is going to play a major role in the West Asian regional geopolitics," Professor of West Asian Studies in the Jawaharlal Nehru University Ashwini Mohapatra told Sputnik.
