BackNarendra Modi, Benjamin Netanyahu hold 10-km mega road show in Ahmedabad
Benjamin Netanyahu is the third international leader whom Narendra Modi is hosting in his home state of Gujarat
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Ahmedabad: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday participated in a 10-km mega road show in Ahmedabad after paying homage to Mahatma Gandhi at Sabarmati Ashram.
The two leaders attended a host of events during their one-day visit to Modi’s home state, including the inauguration of the International Centre for Entrepreneurship and Technology (iCreate), a start-up hub located on the outskirts of Ahmedabad.
The Israeli PM is the third head of state to visit Ahmedabad after Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese premier Shinzo Abe. Wednesday’s roadshow was similar to the one held in September when Abe and Modi travelled over 8km in an open jeep in Ahmedabad.
The two global leaders dedicated iCreate to the nation. The facility is an independent centre created with the objective of facilitating entrepreneurship through a blend of creativity, innovation, engineering, product design and leveraging emerging technologies to deal with issues such as food security, water, connectivity, cybersecurity, information technology and electronics, energy, bio-medical equipment and devices, etc.
“When I went to Israel last year, I made up my mind that this foundation should have more strong relations with Israel. From that time, I was waiting for my friend Benjamin Netanyahu to come to India. He is here and now we are inaugurating this foundation," Modi said in his address at the inauguration function of iCreate.
iCreate, an initiative of the Gujarat Foundation for Entrepreneurial Excellence and registered under Section 8 of the Companies Act, 2013, is a 50:50 public-private partnership between Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation and Gujarat Entrepreneurship and Venture Promotion Foundation.
“I am delighted to be here. The world knows about iPads and iPods, there is one more ‘i’ that the world needs to know about, that is iCreate," Netanyahu said.
iCreate aims to develop an ecosystem in India to generate quality entrepreneurs. The two global leaders also visited a start-up exhibition at the venue and interacted with innovators and CEOs of start-ups.
“Israeli technology and creativity reaches the whole world. The people of Israel have proven to the whole world that the size of the country and the resolve of the countrymen is what takes a country forward. Innovation plays a major role in bringing Indian and Israeli people closer," Modi said.
The iCreate advisory was initially chaired by Narayana Murthy, co-founder of Infosys Ltd and is now led by chairman Dilip Shanghvi, founder and managing director of Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.
Over the years, iCreate works as a bridge between Israel and India’s entrepreneurial ecosystem and has close ties with leading institutes in Israel such as Technion—Israel Institute of Technology and Israeli Innovation Authority (IIA).
Netanyahu, who is on a six-day visit to India, is being accompanied by the largest business delegation that has travelled with an Israeli Premier on an overseas tour.
The visit marks 25 years of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries and takes place about six months after Modi’s trip to Israel, the first by an Indian Prime Minister to the Jewish state.
The two Prime Ministers during their visit also dedicated a mobile water desalination van called the Gal-Mobile to Suigam Taluka, of Banaskantha district, through a video link. The Israeli PM presented his Indian counterpart the Gal-Mobile that the two leaders rode on Israel’s Olga beach last year.
Netanyahu and Modi also visited the Centre of Excellence for Vegetables at Vadrad in Sabarkantha district. They inaugurated the Centre of Excellence for Date Palms at Kukama, Kutch District, through a video link. The two also interacted with farmers.
“I know something about Mashav. We operate in many countries but the biggest project that Mashav has is here in India because India has a leader, has a vision," Netanyahu said at Vadrad.
Mashav is Israel’s Agency for International Development Cooperation in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Modi while praising Israel’s work in agriculture said India is working to double farm income by 2022.
“We are all aware of the strides Israel has made in agriculture, especially when it comes to managing water resources and irrigation. Israel has shown the way on how to transform a nation with the agriculture sector at the core," he said.
“We are working towards doubling farmer incomes by 2022. For this, optimum utilisation of land resources, ensuring minimum wastage and understanding the needs of the market assume importance," Modi said.
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