(JNS.org) During a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, Jan. 18, Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj said her country “attaches the highest importance to the full development of wide-ranging ties with Israel.” Calling India one of the world’s “greatest democracies,” “We are intensifying our contacts and our cooperation in so many fields—in the fields of science and technology and cyber and defense and agriculture and health — everything,” Netanyahu said. The two countries maintain close ties in defense, counter-terrorism, agriculture, renewable energy, and education. “Our bilateral cooperation has developed well in a number of areas over the past two decades, but the potential of our relations is much more,” said Swaraj. Israeli-Indian ties have grown under Indian President Narendra Modi, who took office in 2014. Last July, in a further sign of warming relations, India was one of five countries to abstain from a United Nations vote on an anti-Israel resolution regarding Operation Protective Edge. Modi also intends to visit Israel in the near future.