Preparations are underway in Israel's capital Tel Aviv to organise an elaborate event for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to address the country's Indian diaspora, during his two-day July visit.

According to a report in the Hindustan Times, the event will be akin to the one the prime minister addressed at Madison Square Garden, during his US visit in September 2014. PM Modi had received a grand reception at the iconic New York arena, complete with musical and dance performances, in an event that brought together swathes of Indians residing in the United States.

Quoting sources from the government, the report said, "preparations are underway for a public meeting with tens of thousands in attendance." PM Modi is visiting Israel on July 5 and 6 and is expected to sign "mega defence deals".

"It will be a Madison Square-type event... Modi will be the first Indian leader to hold such an event with the Indian diaspora in Israel," the source told Hindustan Times. The organisers have "opened registration, targeting in particular around 75,000 Jews who migrated from India, particularly Mumbai and northeast, Indian citizens settled in Israel," the report said.

A vast population of Indians and Indian expats reside in Israel, including students, nurses and jewellers. In December 2016, the Israeli President, on a historic visit to India, had said 10 per cent of the foreign students living in the country were Indians.

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What makes the trip historic

Diplomatic visits by heads of state from both countries began in 2015 with President Pranab Mukherjee's visit to Israel in 2015, where he even addressed the country's Parliament, Knesset. During his visit, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had said Indians were always welcome in Israel. "I talk to Mr Modi quite often. When we met last time he told me 'I see a paragon of paternity between our two counties'," he said.

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin reciprocated with a trip to India in November 2016, in a first such visit in two decades. Now, as diplomatic ties between the two countries mark 25 years, PM Modi will become the first ever Indian PM to visit Israel.

Recent developments

In the run up to PM Modi's visit, ties between India-Israel have seen a lot of activity in the last three months. Just two days ago, state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries announced a $630 million deal to supply advanced long-range air and missile defence systems to four Indian Navy ships. Also, early this month, Congress leader and former Union Minister Manish Tewari went to Tel Aviv to attend a conference on security-related issues.

In April, it was announced Delhi's Teen Murti Marg will be renamed after Israeli city Haifa. That same month, Israeli Ambassador to India Daniel Carmon said Indo-Israel ties were more visible under the Modi government.

In March, the Indian Air Force announced it will participate in an air combat exercise in Israel, the Blue Flag exercise, later this year, which will also see the participation of a number of other countries including the US, France and Germany will also be part of the mega exercise. National Security Adviser Ajit Doval also met with PM Netanyahu in March to prepare for PM Modi's visit.

PM Netanyahu met with Indian National Security Adviser Ajit Doval as part of the preparations for Indian PM @NarendraModi's visit to Israel. pic.twitter.com/YKmBlpbdfu - PM of Israel (@IsraeliPM) March 1, 2017

Back in February, Israel signed a nearly $2 billion deal with India to supply advanced missile defence systems, under a contract said to be the largest in Israel's defence industry's history. At the fag end of the month, it was reported the Indian Air Force was using Israeli SPYDER air defence missile system on the western borders, in its preparation to strike down any aerial threat from Pakistan. Around the same time, PM Modi also cleared an air defence missile deal with Israel for Rs 17,000 crore.

Also read: Automatic guns, radar, sensors: How India is using Israel tech to tackle infiltration on Pakistan border

A history of Indo-Israel ties

The ties between India and Israel have seen a lot of developments since Modi took over as Prime Minister, but the relationship grew exponentially, especially after India abstained from a vote against Israel in the UNHRC in 2015.

It's also worth noting that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the ideological fountainhead of the BJP, is a strong supporter for Israel. According to a PTI report from 2014, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat had advocated "treading the path of Israel and Japan" to serve the cause of nationalism, as the countries had "risen from the ashes to become two of the strongest nations of the world."

But the Hindu nationalist organisation has been lobbying for closer ties with Israel since its very creation in 1948. RSS ideologue Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, the man who coined the term Hindutva, had called the creation of the Middle Eastern country a "joyous" moment, and had even clashed with Mahatma Gandhi for opposing the forced displacement of Palestinians.

But diplomatic ties between India and Israel were actually established in 1992 by the then Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao, in a step away from the country's support for a free Palestine. Ties between the two have thrived since, on the back of bilateral cooperation in defence, agriculture, technology, education and homeland security.

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