Narendra Modi
Narendra ModiAdnan Abidi, Reuters

Indian Prime Minister Nerandra Modi landed in Israel this afternoon (Tuesday) and began his visit to Israel.

This is the first visit of an Indian Prime Minister here since the establishment of relations between the two countries in 1992. Modi was received at Ben Gurion Airport by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.

The visit will be devoted to strengthening economic relations between the two countries, and will not include discussions on security issues.

The Prime Minister of India announced in advance that he did not intend to visit Ramallah like other state leaders, but noted that he supported the two-state solution and had recently met with PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.

Modi also said in an interview with Israel Hayom this morning that the Indian embassy would not move to Jerusalem until final and significant stages are reached in the process with the PA.

Israel hopes to take advantage of the visit to end India's automatic support of all PA proposals at UNESCO and the UN Human Rights Council - especially since the Heritage Committee of the United Nations Education Organization is already voting on an anti-Israeli proposal this evening.

During the visit, agreements on agriculture and technology worth billions of dollars will be signed.