New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today expressed India’s strong desire to further strengthen its relations with Israel in traditional fields and explore new areas of bilateral cooperation.
At a meeting here with visiting former President of Israel Shimon Peres, Mr Modi also recalled his own visit to Israel as Chief Minister of Gujarat following which he had promoted use of drip/micro irrigation in the state and also set up an incubation centre to support start-up companies with Israeli collaboration.
The meeting came on a day when Home Minister Rajnath Singh was on a visit to Israel, reflecting the importance the NDA government attaches to relations with the Jewish nation. India’s security ties with Israel, including cooperation in counter terrorism, are expected to receive a major fillip during Mr Singh’s visit to Jerusalem – the first by an Indian Home Minister to the Jewish nation since 2000.
Mr Peres congratulated Mr Modi on his victory in the Lok Sabha elections. He expressed deep appreciation for the ambitious programmes launched by the Prime Minister for India’s economic and social transformation which, he said, struck the right balance between respect for tradition and use of modern technology.
He said that India’s development and growth will be beneficial to the entire world. He also conveyed Israel’s readiness to partner with India in its development efforts and, in this context, called for greater collaboration in the areas of new and higher technologies.
Mr Peres shared his own vision of the way the introduction of new technologies would transform the human lives and the system of governance.
The Prime Minister said that it was a great honour for him to meet Mr Peres, whose life was a source of inspiration for the entire world. He lauded the immense contribution of Mr Peres to the world polity and the development of India-Israel relations, in particular. UNI
