External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar with Israeli counterpart Gideon Saar.
| Photo Credit: X/@DrSJaishankar
External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar met his Israeli counterpart Gideon Saar in Germany and discussed several important matters, including the situation in West Asia and President Donald Trump’s vision of connecting Asia, Europe, and the U.S. through Israel.
The two leaders met on Saturday on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, a key global forum to discuss security-diplomatic affairs.
“Great to meet FM @gidonsaar of Israel on the sidelines of #MSC2025. Exchanged views on the current situation in West Asia/Middle East. Underlined the strength and significance of our bilateral partnership,” Mr. Jaishankar posted on X.
A statement from the Israeli Foreign Minister’s office said Mr. Saar highlighted the strategic importance Israel places on its relations with India.
They discussed Mr. Trump’s vision of connecting Asia, Europe, and the U.S. through Israel, the statement said.
Mr. Trump in a joint conference with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday in Washington said that the U.S. and India have agreed to work together to help build “one of the greatest trade routes in all of history.”
“It will run from India to Israel to Italy and onward to the United States, connecting our partners by ports, railways, and undersea cables — many, many undersea cables. It’s a big development,” he said.
He added, “It’s a lot of money going to be spent, and we’ve already spent some, but we’re going to be spending a lot more in order to stay advanced and stay the leader.”
There is an existing project to link infrastructure from India to Europe, through the Middle East. The project was announced at the 2023 G20 Summit in New Delhi.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu then described it as “the largest cooperation project in our history” and as something that will “change the face of the Middle East, Israel, and will affect the entire world.”
Mr. Jaishankar and Mr. Saar also spoke about the challenges posed by attacks on trade routes by the Houthis and Iran, the Israeli statement said.
Houthis have repeatedly launched attacks on ships in the strategic Bab-el-Mandeb area during the recent conflict between Israel and Hamas claiming that they have been targeting ships with Israeli connection.
Published – February 16, 2025 11:28 am IST
