diff --git a/kubernetes-addons/istio/README.md b/kubernetes-addons/istio/README.md
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+# OPEA with Istio
+
+## Introduction
+
+Istio service mesh provides many features including 1) [mTLS between Kubernetes pods](#enforce-mtls-between-opea-pods) and 2) [TLS connection to Kubernetes ingress](#create-istio-gateway-with-tls-and-virtual-service).
+
+This document describes how to enable the above two Istio features with OPEA applications. We will use the new Istio ambient mode (a.k.a. sidecar-less mode)
+
+## Deployment
+
+In this document we use the following components:
+
+- OPEA ChatQnA as an example application
+- Istio (in ambient mode) with ingress gateway using TLS and strict mTLS for ChatQnA application
+- Cert-Manager for issuing TLS certificate to Istio ingress gateway
+
+### Deploy Istio, ChatQnA and Cert-Manager
+
+In this document we use [helmfile](https://helmfile.readthedocs.io/en/latest/) to do the deployment:
+
+```bash
+helmfile apply
+```
+
+> [!NOTE]
+> The above deployment uses `model-volume` Persistent Volume Claim (PVC) for storing the ChatQnA models so ensure such PVC and corresponding PV are available in your cluster.
+
+### Install Kubernetes Gateway CRDs
+
+Note that the Kubernetes Gateway API CRDs do not come installed by default on most Kubernetes clusters, so make sure they are installed before using the Gateway API:
+
+```bash
+kubectl get crd gateways.gateway.networking.k8s.io &> /dev/null || \
+  { kubectl apply -f https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/gateway-api/releases/download/v1.2.0/standard-install.yaml; }
+```
+
+## Create Istio gateway with TLS and virtual service
+
+Istio gateway terminates the external TLS connections. Istio virtual service routes the traffic to services. In this example, all the traffic that matches host '\*.intel.com' and path prefix '/' is routed to 'chatqna-nginx.chatqna' service. The Istio gateway needs certificate which is created via 'cert-manager' Issuer and Certificate.
+
+Create Istio gateway and virtual service:
+
+```bash
+kubectl apply -f istio-gateway-and-virtual-service.yaml
+```
+
+Create cert-manager Issuer and Certificate:
+
+```bash
+kubectl apply -f istio-gateway-ca-and-cert.yaml
+```
+
+Now you are able to connect to OPEA engine services via TLS. You can test the connection with the command:
+
+```bash
+# Get Istio ingress loadbalancer (LB) address. If you don't use LB, you can set use `kubectl port-forward` command.
+IP=$(kubectl get svc -n istio-ingress -ojsonpath="{.items[0].status.loadBalancer.ingress[0].ip}")
+# Resolve IP to DNS. DNS needs to match the dnsNames in istio-gateway certificate.
+curl -ks https://${DNS}/v1/chatqna -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d '{"messages": "What is the TLS?"}'
+```
+
+> [!NOTE] > `https` scheme (TLS) is used and in curl we ignore the server's self signed certificate with `-k` option.
+
+## Enforce mTLS between OPEA pods
+
+This task ensures the OPEA workloads only communicate using mutual TLS.
+
+```bash
+kubectl apply -f istio-mtls-strict.yaml -n chatqna
+```
+
+## Cleanup
+
+Once you are done with the example you can cleanup your environment with the following commands:
+
+```bash
+kubectl delete -f istio-gateway-and-virtual-service.yaml
+kubectl delete -f istio-gateway-ca-and-cert.yaml
+kubectl apply -f istio-mtls-strict.yaml -n chatqna
+helmfile delete
+```
diff --git a/kubernetes-addons/istio/helmfile.yaml b/kubernetes-addons/istio/helmfile.yaml
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+# Copyright (C) 2025 Intel Corporation
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
+repositories:
+- name: opea
+  url: ghcr.io/opea-project/charts
+  oci: true
+- name: jetstack
+  url: https://charts.jetstack.io
+- name: istio
+  url: https://istio-release.storage.googleapis.com/charts
+  oci: false
+
+releases:
+- name: chatqna
+  chart: opea/chatqna
+  namespace: chatqna
+  version: 1.1.0
+  values:
+    - global:
+        HUGGINGFACEHUB_API_TOKEN: {{ env "HF_TOKEN" }}
+        modelUsePVC: model-volume
+        https_proxy: {{ env "https_proxy" }}
+
+- name: cert-manager
+  chart: jetstack/cert-manager
+  namespace: cert-manager
+  version: "v1.16.1"
+  set:
+  - name: crds.enabled
+    value: true
+
+- name: istio-base
+  chart: istio/base
+  namespace: istio-system
+  set:
+  - name: defaultRevision
+    value: default
+
+- name: istiod
+  chart: istio/istiod
+  namespace: istio-system
+  wait: true
+  set:
+  - name: profile
+    value: ambient
+
+- name: istio-cni
+  chart: istio/cni
+  namespace: istio-system
+  wait: true
+  set:
+  - name: profile
+    value: ambient
+
+- name: ztunnel
+  chart: istio/ztunnel
+  namespace: istio-system
+  wait: true
+
+- name: istio-ingress
+  chart: istio/gateway
+  namespace: istio-ingress
+  needs:
+    - istio-system/istiod
diff --git a/kubernetes-addons/istio/istio-gateway-and-virtual-service.yaml b/kubernetes-addons/istio/istio-gateway-and-virtual-service.yaml
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+# Copyright (C) 2025 Intel Corporation
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
+apiVersion: networking.istio.io/v1
+kind: Gateway
+metadata:
+  name: opea-gateway
+spec:
+  selector:
+    app: istio-ingress
+  servers:
+  - port:
+      number: 80
+      name: http
+      protocol: HTTP
+    hosts:
+    - "*"
+    tls:
+      httpsRedirect: true # sends 301 redirect for http requests
+  - port:
+      number: 443
+      name: https
+      protocol: HTTPS
+    hosts:
+    - "*.intel.com"
+    tls:
+      mode: SIMPLE
+      credentialName: istio-gateway
+---
+apiVersion: networking.istio.io/v1
+kind: VirtualService
+metadata:
+  name: opea
+spec:
+  gateways:
+  - opea-gateway
+  hosts:
+    - "*"
+  http:
+  - match:
+    - uri:
+        prefix: /
+    route:
+    - destination:
+        host: chatqna-nginx.chatqna.svc.cluster.local
diff --git a/kubernetes-addons/istio/istio-gateway-ca-and-cert.yaml b/kubernetes-addons/istio/istio-gateway-ca-and-cert.yaml
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index 000000000..0d8050870
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+++ b/kubernetes-addons/istio/istio-gateway-ca-and-cert.yaml
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+# Copyright (C) 2025 Intel Corporation
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
+apiVersion: cert-manager.io/v1
+kind: Issuer
+metadata:
+  name: ca-issuer
+  namespace: istio-ingress
+spec:
+  selfSigned: {}
+---
+apiVersion: cert-manager.io/v1
+kind: Certificate
+metadata:
+  name: istio-gateway
+  namespace: istio-ingress # ceritificate must be in the same namespace as istio ingress gw
+spec:
+  commonName: "Istio ingress for OPEA services"
+  dnsNames:
+  - "*.intel.com" # adjust to your environment
+  issuerRef:
+    group: cert-manager.io
+    kind: Issuer
+    name: ca-issuer
+  secretName: istio-gateway
diff --git a/kubernetes-addons/istio/istio-mtls-strict.yaml b/kubernetes-addons/istio/istio-mtls-strict.yaml
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index 000000000..27cfc8064
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+++ b/kubernetes-addons/istio/istio-mtls-strict.yaml
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+# Copyright (C) 2025 Intel Corporation
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
+apiVersion: security.istio.io/v1
+kind: PeerAuthentication
+metadata:
+  name: default
+spec:
+  mtls:
+    mode: STRICT