Team Blitz India
NEW DELHI: Prime Minister NarendraModimet Foreign Minister of Israel Eli Cohen in New Delhi on May 9. They discussed a number of issues of bilateral cooperation, including priority areas of agriculture, water, innovation and knowledge partnership tapping into the wideranging complementarities of the two economies as well as strengthening people-to-people ties.
The Prime Minister also exchanged views on various regional and international issues of mutual interest with the Israeli minister.
Earlier, Cohen met Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. During the meeting, Singh underlined Government of India’s priority towards indigenisation in accordance with the ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat Policy’. He acknowledged the cooperation being extended by Israeli companies and encouraged them for more investments and for forging joint ventures to manufacture defence equipment in India.
Continued cooperation
The Israeli Minister affirmed continued cooperation of Israel in India’s endeavour for indigenisation and conveyed the willingness to cooperate and partner in advanced technologies.
Cohen had arrived in Delhi on May 9 on a three-day visit but had to cut short the trip in view of Tel Aviv’s operation against a militant group in Gaza Strip. He departed from India on the same day.
Among the other senior level officials that Cohen met in Delhi were External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Water Resources Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat.
The MEA said Jaishankar and Cohen, in their talks, touched upon various aspects of bilateral cooperation, including in areas of connectivity, mobility, academic and scientific research, fintech, agriculture, water and trade.
Diversify tie-up
It said they agreed to further diversify the basket of collaboration. “They also discussed regional and international issues of mutual interest, including cooperation under the framework of I2U2 (India, Israel, US and UAE), the ongoing conflict in Sudan, developments in West Asia, the Russia-Ukraine conflict, etc.,” it said.
The ties between India and Israel have been on an upswing in the last few years in a range of sectors, including defence, agriculture and water management. “India’s bilateral merchandise trade was $7.86 billion in 2021-2022, which has scaled up to a record $10.12 billion in 2022-23 (April-Feb),” the MEA said.
