JERUSALEM:Prime Minister Narendra Modi landed in Israel on Wednesday to a red-carpet welcome with his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu and wife Sara receiving the Indian leader at the Ben Gurion airport.

It is PM Modi’s second visit to Israel in nine years. The India-Israel relationship was elevated to the level of strategic partnership during his first visit to that country in July 2017.

Netanyahu greeted the Indian prime minister with a warm hug, following which Modi was accorded a ceremonial welcome at the airport, located 20 kilometres southeast of Tel Aviv.