Posted on 11/15/2016 5:52:32 AM PST by cold start
Rivlin will meet with Indian PM, other high level officials in bid to strengthen ties
President Reuven Rivlin and First Lady Nechama Rivlin landed Monday morning in India for a state visit at the invitation of Indian President Pranab Mukherjee.
During his visit, the official nature of which will begin Tuesday, Rivlin will hold meetings with high level officials, including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in attempt to strengthen ties with the Asian country.
Upon arriving in New Delhi, Rivlin was given flowers and was welcomed by government representatives.
Moments before leaving Israel for the visit, Rivlin said: “I am departing now on an important visit to India, an important ally and close friend of Israel, a state with whom we have much in common.”
“Israel and India are both countries of innovation and of inspiration. Countries that have ancient traditions, but have built strong and thriving hi-tech economies, and now celebrate 25 years of diplomatic relations. I will be accompanied on this visit by a large delegation of business and academic leaders and together we will promote our bilateral cooperation. This visit is a sign of the strong relations and friendship between our peoples, and I hope will plant the seeds for that friendship to grow closer and closer,” he added.
India and Israel have been enjoying a warming of relations, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Indian counterpart Modi meeting on the sidelines of the Paris climate change conference in November last year.
India's Minister for Foreign Affairs Shushma Swaraj met with Netanyahu in Jerusalem earlier this year. Her visit came after the first ever visit by an Indian head of state when President Mukherjee arrived in Israel in last October.
"The Middle East's only democracy welcomes the foreign minister of the world's great democracy," Netanyahu said. "There has been a great friendship between our countries in recent years. The expression of the growing relationship was in the visit of the president the first ever by a head of state."
Netanyahu hailed the cooperation between the two countries in science, technology and agriculture as an "opportunity to have a discussion about the challenges we face. Especially the opportunities we face."
"We are both ancient nations and we take pride in our past but at the same time we want to seize the future. We admire India and view India as a great friend," the prime minster said.
Swaraj noted that it was her first visit abroad in 2016."I'm very happy to be here," she said. "I bring greetings from prime minister Modi, the president and the people of India."
"Better cooperation has developed in a number of areas over the past two decades but the potential is much more. Looking forward to meetings and discussing the bilateral relationship and explore areas where we can cooperate," she added.
India and Israel on Tuesday decided to expand cooperation in the defence sector during a visit by Israeli President Reuven Rivlin.
Rivlin is the first Israeli president to visit India in 20 years and his trip would give a "crucial push" to bilateral ties, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said after talks in New Delhi.
Modi, at a joint media briefing with Rivlin, said the two sides had discussed their growing defence partnership and had agreed to make it more broad-based through joint production and manufacturing.
Rivlin said Israel was proud of its innovations and ready to respond to the Indian prime minister‘s call to "make in India."
India has purchased an estimated 12 billion dollars worth of defence equipment from Israel over the past decade making it the third-largest supplier to India after Russia and the United States.
India and Israel had also decided to intensify cooperation in fighting terrorism and boosting trade and investment, Modi said.
Rivlin is scheduled to visit India‘s financial hub Mumbai on Monday where he would be attending a memorial ceremony for the victims of the terrorist attacks of 2008 at a Jewish centre and a luxury hotel.
Rivlin is accompanied by delegations of businessmen and academics for his weeklong visit. Several agreements between educational institutions of the two countries are expected to be signed, diplomats said.
http://en.europeonline-magazine.eu/india-israel-to-intensify-defence-cooperation_495261.html
When I was in Israel two years ago I was surprised at the large number of Indian tourists there. It’s very smart of Israel to seek friends in Asia given Europe’s return to it’s anti-semitic baseline.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.