India and Israel

While Indian PM Modi visits Jerusalem, the 'Post' embeds with the Indian Armed Forces across the subcontinent

- By ALEX WINSTON

'WE FEEL YOUR PAIN.' Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses the Knesset in Jerusalem on Wednesday during an official state visit, condemning the October 7 attacks and reaffirming India's support for Israel. (Marc Israel Sellem/The Jerusalem Post) A VISIBLE EXPRESSION of friendship, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu greets Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Knesset on Wednesday, marking Modi's first visit to Israel in nearly a decade. (Marc Israel Sellem/The Jerusalem Post)

(Marc Israel Sellem/The Jerusalem Post Marc Israel Sellem/The Jerusalem Post)

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi stood at the Knesset podium on Wednesday afternoon and spoke the post-October 7 language of friendship that Israeli leaders love to hear.

"We feel your pain. India stands with Israel firmly, with full conviction in this moment and beyond," the prime minister of the world’s most populous country told Israeli parliamentarians after landing in Israel for an official state visit. “Nothing justifies terror.”

He went on to say that India would stand with Israel in all counterterrorism efforts, stressing that confronting terrorism requires “sustained and coordinated global action.”

Modi explicitly linked India’s own security experience to Israel’s current war, saying New Delhi supports “all efforts that contribute to regional peace and stability.”

He described Israel as “a powerhouse of innovation and technological leadership,” calling the relationship between the two countries “a natural basis for a future-oriented partnership.”

India and Israel, Modi said, are “ancient civilizations,” bound not only by interests but by shared experience. He pointed to the establishment of a parliamentary friendship group, commitments to expand trade and investment, and the bilateral investment treaty signed last year, which he said provided “certainty and clear prospects” for businesses in both countries.