This article covers cooperation between India and Israel in agriculture, fisheries, water, cyber policy, defence and health. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) bilateral brief of February 2026 is its source. Much of the agricultural and water cooperation is implemented in India with MASHAV, Israel's Agency for International Development Cooperation in its Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Agriculture
According to the MEA brief of February 2026, an agricultural cooperation agreement between India and Israel was signed in 1993 and renewed in April 2025. A comprehensive work plan signed in 2006 implements bilateral projects through MASHAV and the Center for International Agricultural Development Cooperation.
Cooperation is formalised through 3-Year Work Plans, and as of February 2026 the 6th Work Plan (2024-2026) is underway. Under these plans, 43 Centres of Excellence (CoE) have been approved in flowers, vegetables, fruits and beekeeping, of which 35 are functional. The fruits covered include mango, citrus, litchi, date palm and pomegranate.
In May 2023, ICAR and MASHAV signed a Declaration of Intent for the India-Israel Innovation Centre for Agriculture.
Ministerial visits in this sector include the visit of India's Agriculture Minister to Israel on 9-11 May 2022, and that of the Israeli Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Avi Dichter, to India on 7-10 April 2025.
Fisheries and aquaculture
Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying Rajiv Ranjan Singh visited Israel on 13-15 January 2026 to take part in the Second Global Summit on "Blue Food Security: Sea the Future 2026" in Eilat. He met the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security. A Joint Ministerial Declaration of Intent on cooperation in the field of fisheries and aquaculture was signed during the visit.
Water
Cooperation in the water sector was formalised through an MOU on Water Resources Management and Development Cooperation signed in November 2016. During the Prime Minister's visit to Israel in July 2017, the two sides signed MoUs on:
- the National Campaign for Water Conservation in India
- the Reforms of UP Jal Nigam
MASHAV has signed joint declarations with the States of Haryana (June 2022) and Rajasthan (December 2024) for cooperation in integrated water resource management and capacity building. In May 2023, the two countries signed a Letter of Intent to establish Centres of Excellence in Water Technology at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras and the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee. India's Jal Shakti Minister visited Israel in November 2019.
Cyber policy
The 1st India-Israel Cyber Policy Dialogue was held in Jerusalem on 27 March 2025.
Defence
The brief records the following defence contacts:
- May 2017: three Indian naval ships from the Western Fleet made a port call in Haifa, as part of regular goodwill visits by Indian Navy ships.
- September 2018: INS Tarangini, a naval training ship, made a port call in Haifa.
- October 2021: the Indian Air Force took part in the multilateral Air Force exercise Blue Flag-2021, held in Israel.
- 1-3 June 2022: Israeli Defence Minister Benjamin Gantz visited India.
- 3 March 2023: India's Minister of Defence spoke with Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant. The brief describes this as the first talk between the two defence ministers.
- July 2025: the Director General of the Israeli Ministry of Defence, Major General (Res) Amir Baram, visited India and met India's Defence Secretary.
The 17th meeting of the Joint Working Group (JWG) on defence cooperation took place in Tel Aviv on 4 November 2025. It was co-chaired by Defence Secretary Shri Rajesh Kumar Singh and Maj Gen (Res) Amir Baram. According to the brief, an MoU on Defence Cooperation was signed during the visit.
Health
On 21 December 2020, India and Israel signed an agreement on cooperation in health and medicine. The brief states that the agreement envisages deepening the bilateral strategic partnership in the health sector, including in R&D in health.
India and Israel cooperated in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic.