KARACHI: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday appeared to confirm that his country provided support during Operation Sindoor in May of this year, when India attacked Pakistani sites under the guise of targeting “terrorists”, Dawn.com reported.

The nuclear-armed rivals exchanged artillery, drone and air strikes in May, after India, without evidence, blamed Pakistan for a deadly attack on tourists in occupied Kashmir’s Pahalgam. The four-day confrontation came to an end when US President Donald Trump announced a surprise ceasefire.

On Thursday, the Israeli PM met with Indian ambassador to Israel, JP Singh, in Jerusalem. In a post on X, Netanyahu said the pair “discussed strengthening and expanding cooperation between Israel and India, particularly in the fields of security and economics”.

“Afterward, I held a meeting with a group of senior journalists from India and answered their questions,” the Israeli leader wrote.

According to NDTV, Netanyahu confirmed the use of Israeli weapons during India’s military operations in May, including the deployment of HARPY drones and the Barak-8 missile, which Israel jointly developed with India.

“The things we provided before worked very well on the field… we develop our weapons in the field and they are battle-tested,” the Israeli PM was quoted as saying by NDTV.

“They worked fine and we have a pretty solid foundation.”

The Indian media outlet added that Israel was one of several countries that supported Operation Sindoor.

According to News18, New Delhi deployed the HARPY and SkyStriker loitering munitions “to great effect” during Operation Sindoor, reportedly targeting Pakistani air defence and surveillance systems.

Over the last decade, India has imported military hardware worth $2.9 billion from Israel, including radars, surveillance and combat drones, and missiles.

Published in Dawn, August 8th, 2025