When Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu, with Narendra Modi by his side, snubbed Pakistan

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday capped off his three-day visit to Israel. After a visit to the Haifa World War I memorial and a trip to the Olga beach, he flew to Hamburg in Germany for a two-day Group of Twenty (G20) meeting that begins Friday.

The Indian prime minister's historic visit to Israel was marked by a remarkable display of friendship between Modi and counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu. The two spent most of the trip together with Netanyahu coming to receive Modi at the Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv on Tuesday. On Thursday, the Israeli PM saw Modi off as the Indian PM departed for Germany.

During one of the several Modi-Netanyahu moments, the Israeli prime minister seemingly said there are no democratic countries that lie between Israel and India. To India's neighbour, Pakistan, that comment may have appeared to be a snub, even though it doesn't even recognise Israel as an official state.

Netanyahu's comment came during a light moment when he spoke about how Modi had inspired him to take up yoga.

"When I do a relaxing Tada-asana in the morning and I turn my head to right, India is the first democracy I see and when Modi does a relaxing Vasisthasana and he turns left, Israel is the first democracy he can see. So in fact we have in India and Israel two sister democracies," Netanyahu said.

WORLD BETWEEN INDIA, ISRAEL

India and Israel are separated by around 4,500 kilometers, as a crow flies, and a number of countries, including Pakistan and Iraq - both official democracies.

Notably, apart from Jordan, which borders Israel and is not a complete democracy, none of the countries that fall between India and Israel (Pakistan, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Iraq) have current diplomatic ties with Israel.

However, it may not have been just PM Modi's presence that prompted Netanyahu to leave Pakistan and Iraq out the list of countries that are democratic. Both Islamabad and Baghdad have never officially recognised the State of Israel.

In fact, Pakistan and Israel's official relations are so fraught that Pakistani passports carry the inscription, 'This passport is valid for all countries of the world except Israel.'

Netanyahu's remarks are unlikely to be given too much weight in Islamabad, but they are bound to sting. Especially considering how Pakistan 'closely watched' Modi's Israel visit, as an Express Tribune report said on Wednesday.

HISTORIC VISIT

Modi's trip to came in the 25th anniversary year of India and Israel establishing diplomatic ties. This was the first time a sitting Indian prime minister visited the Middle Eastern state.

Modi's visit marked a departure from the notoriously secretive manner in which India has treated its relations with Israel.

During his trip, Modi and his Indian delegation focused on signing agreements relating to space, agriculture and water conservation. This too marked a slight change in India-Israel relations, which have mostly focused on defence and security. Notably, just ahead of Modi's visit, India and Israel signed a $2 billion deal to supply India with missile defence systems.

However, security and terrorism, especially cyber security, did find mentions during Modi and Netanyahu's meets and public addresses.

On the very first day of his trip, Modi referenced his visit to the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial: "Yad Vashem tells us that those who believe in humanity and civilised values must come together and defend it at all costs...As such, we must resolutely oppose the evils of terrorism, radicalism and violence that plague our time."

PM Netanyahu struck a similar cord, saying India and Israel face common challenges with respect to terrorism. One of these challenges is "to defeat the forces of terror that's on rampage through the world and threaten both our countries. We must stand together in this battle. We have to defeat terrorism," the Israeli prime minister said.

India and Israel also called for strong action all those who encourage support and finance terrorism, or provide sanctuary to terrorists and terror groups.

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