New Delhi- India and Israel on Tuesday inked a defence pact that will facilitate sharing of advanced technologies and promote co-development and co-production of key weapon systems and military hardware, in a major move to further bolster their already robust strategic ties.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed in Tel Aviv following a meeting of the India-Israel Joint Working Group (JWG) on defence cooperation.

The MoU on defence cooperation was signed to provide a“unified vision and policy direction to deepen the already strong defence cooperation between the two countries”, the defence ministry said.

The pact also provides for cooperation in the areas of artificial intelligence, cyber security, defence research and innovation and industrial collaboration.

India is a leading buyer of Israel's military hardware, and the latter has been supplying various weapon systems, missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles over the last few years. However, the transactions have largely remained behind the curtains.

“The India-Israel defence partnership is long-standing, based on deep mutual trust and shared security interests,” the ministry said.

The signing of the MoU came when Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar is on a three-day visit to India.

In a statement, the defence ministry said a wide range of areas for cooperation have been identified in the MoU that will benefit both countries.

“Important fields include strategic dialogues of mutual interest, training, defence industrial cooperation, and capabilities including science and technology, research and development and technological innovation, artificial intelligence and cyber security cooperation,” the ministry said.

“The MoU will enable the sharing of advanced technology and will promote co-development and co-production,” it said.

The JWG reviewed the ongoing defence cooperation initiatives and agreed that both the nations have benefited from each other's strengths, the ministry said.

“The two sides discussed the potential areas for future collaboration in the field of technology as well as enhancing operational capabilities,” it said.

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