BackNarendra Modi Israel visit: New areas of cooperation on the agenda
India is looking to advance its ties with Israel into several new areas during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Israel next week
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New Delhi: India is looking to advance its ties with Israel into several new areas during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Israel next week—the first by an Indian Prime Minister since diplomatic relations were established 25 years ago.
In a break with Indian convention, Modi’s visit the Jewish nation from 4-6 July will see him skip Palestine. In the past, Indian leaders have always visited Israel and Palestine together in an effort to balance India’s ties between the Jewish nation and its Arab neighbours.
Indian foreign ministry joint secretary in charge of West Asia and North Africa, B. Bala Bhaskar told reporters on Thursday that Modi would arrive in Israel on Tuesday, hold talks with his Israeli host Benjamin Netanyahu and others on Wednesday and address the India-Israeli business community as well as Israelis of Indian origin on Thursday before proceeding to Hamburg for the G20 (Group of 20 developed and developing countries leaders’) Summit on 7-8 July.
Since the two countries established diplomatic ties in 1992, “this relationship has evolved into a multi-dimensional partnership which is expanding continuously," Bhaskar said.
Ties now span defence, water conservation, agriculture, innovation, science and technology and start-ups, Bhaskar said.
“This visit is going to develop and expand our cooperation in several areas and give definite shape to ties in several areas," he said.
“We have a wide range of cooperation starting from agriculture to water to science and technology, education...and we want to bring definite shape to and advance this cooperation into several areas." Recent high-level exchanges between the two countries include a visit by President Pranab Mukherjee to Israel in October 2015 and one by Israeli President Reuven Rivlin to India in November last year.
Strategic relations between the two countries have developed rapidly.
India annually imports $1 billion worth of Israeli military hardware on an average, in deals that are mostly kept under wraps.
Briefing reporters on the G20 leg of the visit, Alok Dimri, joint secretary in charge of multilateral economic relations said Modi would take part in the 12th summit of the grouping which had “Shaping an interconnected world" as its theme. Discussions would revolve around the three pillars of (macroeconomic) stability, sustainability (sustainable development, climate change and social issues) and responsibility (terrorism and anti corruption), Dimri said. The two-day meeting would open with a leaders’ retreat where they were expected to discuss terrorism.
The summit would have four working sessions to deal with issues like macroeconomic policy coordination, fiscal structural reforms, climate finance and green finance, open and free trade, development, Africa and migration besides health and pandemics, Dimri added.
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