New Delhi: India and Israel decided to upgrade their relationship to a ‘special strategic partnership’ and announced initiatives spanning science and technology, critical minerals, labour mobility and agriculture on Thursday (February 26) during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s state visit to the West Asian country.The two sides also concluded their first round of negotiations towards a free trade agreement in New Delhi and agreed to meet in Israel for the next set of talks in May, with Modi saying in Jerusalem that a deal would be finalised “soon”.With Modi’s visit occurring in the wake of Israel’s brutal military campaign in Gaza, India said on Thursday that it sees a role for itself in a post-war scenario for the beleaguered territory, offering its “very specific capabilities and … capacities” that it said would be of “considerable relevance in a situation of the kind we see on the ground”.Thursday saw the two countries elevate their existing ‘strategic partnership’ established during Modi’s first visit to Israel in 2017 – also the maiden visit to that country by an Indian prime minister – to a “special strategic partnership for peace, innovation and prosperity”, marking another advancement in relations that have deepened under the two premiers’ governments.Negotiations for a free trade agreement, the terms of reference for which both sides signed in November as India moved to ink trade pacts with various countries under the shadow of Washington’s tariff policies, saw an initial round conclude “successfully” in New Delhi on Thursday following four days of talks. Modi in his remarks to the press in Jerusalem said that a deal would be finalised soon.During his press statement Modi, who had briefly mentioned Gaza in his remarks to the Knesset on Wednesday, also said that “humanity must never become a victim of conflict” and reiterated India’s support for the ‘peace plan’ for the Palestinian territory that was conceived by the US last year and which precipitated a ceasefire to the Israel-Hamas war.Tel Aviv’s military campaign in Gaza – conducted in response to Hamas’s October 7, 2023 terror attack in southern Israel in which it killed around 1,200 people and took 250 others hostage – saw tens of thousands of Palestinians lose their lives, much of the strip’s buildings suffer damage or destruction, and parts of the territory slip into famine.The scale of the devastation has prompted comparisons to genocide, against the backdrop of which Modi’s visit and Knesset address have been criticised by some quarters, including in the opposition at home.Later on Thursday, when foreign secretary Vikram Misri was asked if India would play a role in a post-war Gaza, he answered in the affirmative.“Yes, we do see a role,” said Misri. While the exact nature of its involvement would require further clarity on Gaza’s future, India “has very specific capabilities and very specific capacities which would be of considerable relevance in a situation of the kind that we see on the ground” in the territory, the top diplomat added.As in his Knesset address Modi on Thursday said that India and Israel are opponents of terrorism, and the joint statement released during his visit mentioned that he and Netanyahu “unequivocally and strongly condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations including cross-border terrorism”, in addition to the attacks of October 2023, Pahalgam and Delhi.Among the various other bilateral announcements made on Thursday is an initiative for collaboration in the critical and emerging technologies sector that is to be led by the national security advisers of either side and which Modi said would encompass AI, quantum technologies and critical minerals.Science and technology figured as a prominent sector where memorandums of understanding were inked and statements of intent made, with the two sides also upgrading an existing bilateral mechanism to the ministerial level in order to facilitate easier inter-agency coordination.Labour mobility was another key area, with both sides signing implementation protocols to a 2023 temporary employment agreement that have been billed as paving the way for Indians to be recruited into the Israeli services, logistics, manufacturing and restaurant sectors.Almost 42,000 skilled Indian workers have travelled to Israel in recent years, Misri said during the external affairs ministry’s media briefing in Jerusalem, adding that there is a “broad consensus that up to 50,000 Indian workers may arrive in Israel within the next five years to work in these sectors”. A list of outcomes issued by the ministry mentions a “quota” of up to 50,000 workers over the next half decade.The two sides also signed a memorandum of understanding aiming to link India’s UPI with Israel’s payments system, which Misri said could have the “spin-off” effects of promoting tourism to Israel and spurring commercial activity between the two sides.Their joint statement also reaffirmed ties in defence – the sector accounts for a majority of bilateral trade – with the two leaders “[acknowledging] the significant growth made in defence cooperation between their nations, both in scope and scale”.