Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, Modi sign 9 MoUs

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday held delegation-level talks with his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu during which they discussed a range of key issues including defence, trade and terrorism.

India and Israel signd MOU on - cooperation in oil and gas sector, a protocol on amendments to air transport agreement, agreement on film co-production, field research in homoeopathic medicine, cooperation in the field of space, letter of intent to invest in India, cooperation in metal battery and cooperation in solar thermal energy.

Addressing the gathering, Modi said,"It is a great honour to welcome Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to India on his first trip here. This is a long-anticipated moment in the diplomatic relations between India and Israel. I was overwhelmed by the warmth shown by Israel during my visit."

"I have a reputation for being impatient to get results and so do you PM Netanyahu. We will strength our cooperation in areas that affect the lives of our people i.e. agriculture, science and technology and defence. I welcome Israeli companies to come take advantage of the liberal FDIs in India's defence sector. We will also fecilitate the flow of ideas between both sets of people. We will bring our people closer, with a Indian culture center opening in Israel and we will have an annual programme, wherein 100 young people travelling from India to Israel and vice versa to exchange ideas," said Modi.

"Today and yesterday we reviewed progress in our relations and renewed our relations on the opportunities that beckon us. We have imparted our shared impatience to the implementation of our earlier decisions. The results are already visible on the ground. Our discussions today were marked by convergence to accelerate our engagement and to scale up our partnership," Modi further said.

"We will strengthen existing pillars of cooperation in areas that touch the lives of our peoples. These are agriculture, science and technology and security.We exchanged views on scaling up the Centers of Excellence that have been a main-stay of agricultural cooperation," said PM Narendra Modi.

"India and Israel have thousands of years of history. You are a revolutionary leader Narendra Modi, you have revolutionised India. Three things bind our countries - we have an ancient past, vibrant present and a quest to seize a promising future," said Israeli PM.

"The Jews of India never experienced antisemitism in 2000 years. This is a tribute to India's great civilisation, tolerance and democracy. Personally, my wife and I are excited to visit Bollywood and see it first-hand ourselves," said Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu.

"India and Israel both know too well the pain of terrorist attacks. We remember the horrific savagery in Mumbai (26/11 attacks), we will never give in and will fight back," Netanyahu further said.

"You being such a gracious and generous host fills me with hope that this new era of India-Israel relations will bring unprecedented benefits to both nations and all of humanity. Finally, this is perhaps the most important statement I can make here, my friend Narendra, anytime you want to do a Yoga class with me, it's a big stretch but I will be there. Trust me. Thank you very much for your hospitality," said Israeli PM.

Earlier in the day, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is on six-day visit to India, was accorded a ceremonial welcome at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Monday.

OneIndia News