India and Israel Sign New Health Pact Focused on AI and Digital Care

India and Israel upgraded their health ties to a new special strategic partnership aimed at peace, innovation and prosperity during the Modi‑Netanyahu summit in Jerusalem on 26 February 2026. The two leaders announced the creation of the first Joint Working Group on Health, slated to meet in early 2026, with a focus on artificial‑intelligence tools, digital health services and biotechnology. Both prime ministers said they will share best practices and build institutional links to speed up innovation.## What Happened The partnership builds on a 2020 health‑and‑medicine cooperation agreement that replaced a 2003 pact. That earlier deal covered medical‑staff exchange, drug and device regulation, climate‑resilient “Green Healthcare” hospitals and joint research. The new agenda pushes the collaboration into the digital arena.## Future Plans Israel’s strong health‑tech sector, known for AI diagnostics, imaging, remote monitoring and personalized medicine, will complement India’s large market, manufacturing base and rapidly digitising health system. In November 2025, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal highlighted Israel’s dense startup ecosystem, noting roughly one startup per 1,000 citizens and naming medical‑technology devices as a priority. The summit also saw a memorandum of understanding on AI cooperation and an agreement to promote AI‑driven education. Planned projects include an India‑Israel Centre of Excellence in Cybersecurity to protect digital health records and connected devices, and work on AI‑enabled health systems, remote patient monitoring, and data‑driven clinical decisions.## Context Bilateral health ties have traditionally focused on professional exchange and hospital infrastructure. The shift toward AI and digital health reflects a global trend of using technology to improve access and efficiency, especially in large, diverse markets like India.