India’s reliance on Israeli defence systems deepens as arms trade surges

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is on a two-day visit to Israel to deepen defence and trade ties

• India's reliance on Israeli defence imports has grown sharply
• Arms trade between India and Israel rose 33-fold since 2015
• Defence now India's second-largest import category from Israel

Did our AI summary help?

India’s dependence on Israel for certain defence equipment, particularly air defence systems, sensors and naval weapons, has strengthened over the past decade, reflecting a steady deepening of strategic ties between New Delhi and Tel Aviv, according to a Moneycontrol analysis of defence import and trade data.

Data on India’s defence imports show Israel’s share has risen sharply in several specialised segments. Israel accounted for all of India’s air-defence system imports during 2013-2018, and for 49.1 percent between 2019 and 20244.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is on a two-day visit to Israel to deepen defence and trade ties. The first round of negotiations for the India-Israel free trade agreement (FTA) started earlier this week.

Reliance has also remained substantial in surveillance and maritime capabilities. Israel’s share in India’s imports of sensors stood at 71.4 percent during 2007-2012, rising slightly to 73 percent in 2013-2018 before easing to 44.4 percent in the latest period. For naval weapons, Israel’s share rose from 31.9 percent in 2013-2018 to 48 percent in 2019-2024, underscoring growing maritime security cooperation.

Missile imports show a similar trajectory. Israel’s share rose from 6.4 percent in 2007-2012 to 34.2 percent in 2013-2018, before moderating to 30 percent in 2019-2024. Overall, Israel accounted for roughly 11 percent of India’s defence imports in the most recent period, up from about 4 percent in the late 2000s.

Arms trade expands sharply

The strategic shift is also visible in bilateral trade patterns. While traditional categories such as gems and jewellery and electrical machinery still dominate India-Israel trade, defence commerce has grown rapidly.

Arms and ammunition trade between the two countries expanded 33-fold between 2015 and 2024, rising from about $5.6 million in 2015 to roughly $185 million in 2024. The peak came in 2023, when bilateral weapons trade reached around $265 million.

Most of this reflects Indian imports. Israeli arms exports to India increased from roughly $168,000 in 2015 to about $135 million in 2023, before easing slightly to around $128 million in 2024.

By 2024, arms and ammunition had become India’s second-largest import category from Israel after electrical machinery, whereas the segment did not feature among the top ten imports as recently as 2020.

Broader trade ties strengthen

The growth in defence trade coincides with a broader strengthening of economic ties. India moved from being Israel’s 10th-largest trading partner to fifth place by 2024, while also climbing from eighth to sixth position as a destination for Israeli exports over the past decade. On the import side, India advanced from 10th to fifth place.