As India and Israel elevate the diplomatic relations to “Special Strategic Partnership”, during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to Israel, one of the key facets of this stronger bilateral ties is academic collaboration. New Delhi and Jerusalem have agreed to work towards a stronger academic and research forum not just in the modern subjects but also in ancient civilisational aspects. This helps to nourish the civilisational, cultural and spiritual ethos of both India and Israel.
In this direction Nalanda University of India and the Hebrew University in Jerusalem have signed an agreement to foster stronger academic partnership. The agreement facilitates a structured framework for faculty and student exchange programmes between universities across disciplines such as Buddhist Studies, Archeology, Mathematics and International Relations. The academic agreement aims to calibrate joint research, scholarship, student exchange programme and civilisational dialogue between India and Israel through the respective universities. The agreement aims to bolster intercultural understanding and relations as well.
Forging a Nalanda-Hebrew University Alliance.
Under the visionary leadership of Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri @narendramodi Ji, the MoU between Nalanda University and the @HebrewU marks a significant step in advancing India-Israel academic cooperation.
The agreement establishes… pic.twitter.com/ZGneYYuCHn
— Nalanda University (@nalanda_univ) February 27, 2026
The agreement was announced in Rajgir, Bihar on February 27, Friday. Meanwhile, the University of Hebrew in Jerusalem also appreciated and thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech in the Knesset, Israel Parliament. University of Hebrew noted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech in the Knesset reflects the deep strategic partnership shared between India and Israel that also extends to the academic sphere. The speech translates “diplomatic milestones into deep academic collaborations”, Hebrew University further noted. With the intention of strengthening the academic partnership between India and Israel, recently, Prof. Guy Harpaz, Vice President for International Affairs at the Hebrew University led a delegation to India and met the Vice Chancellor of Nalanda University, Prof. Sachin Chaturvedi.
Earlier, Prof Eviatar Shulman, Director of Buddhist Studies and Head of the Institute for the Study of History, Religion and Classics at the Hebrew University delivered a specialised lecture at Nalanda University. Thus, the academic partnership between India and Israel and both the universities is gaining momentum. Prof. Chaturvedi, Vice Chancellor of Nalanda University said, “the partnership would strengthen the ancient bonds between the two countries, create better research opportunities and provide new direction to students’ research skills, innovation capabilities and career prospects”.
“By uniting these two world-class centres of learning, Prof Shulman and his colleagues are shattering geographical barriers to foster joint research, integrated teaching and student exchanges. We don’t just study international connections; we turn them into the foundation for generational scientific excellence”, the Hebrew University asserted about its key academic principles.
