India and Israel have held the third Joint Working Group meeting on defence cooperation.

An eight-member Indian delegation led by Defence Secretary Ajay Vikram Singh is in Israel to review the defence ties between the two countries and to work out new areas of cooperation, defence sources said.

The sources brushed aside any impact on the relationship between the two countries following the change of government in New Delhi. "We haven't felt anything of the sort yet. Our relationship is based on mutual concerns and has sound foundations," one source said.

The two countries have recently stepped up engagement in various fields, with defence cooperation talks having taken place in quick succession to foreign ministry consultations and the JWG meeting on counter-terrorism.

A delegation from the Indian Ordnance Board is also said to have visited Israel last week.

Israel has emerged as India's second largest supplier of defence equipment after Russia.