Jerusalem. The President of India, Pranab Mukherjee said India and Israel are separated by two seas but joined by their common belief in the power of diversity and democracy. He was addressing the members of in Jerusalem, Israel.
India attaches high importance to its relationship with Israel. Relations between India and Israel have taken great strides in the last few years. “We are cooperating and collaborating in a range of areas from defence and agriculture to science, research and innovation. We are also discovering and identifying new areas of complementarities where there is significant potential to be realized,” said the President.
While addressing e said, “ President Rivlin, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and I will also take this opportunity to discuss the many global challenges that our two countries face today – including the growing menace of terrorism and extremism, our common concerns about climate change and the urgent need for reform of global governance architecture. We are distressed at the recent violence. India condemns all forms of terrorism. We have always advocated a peaceful resolution of all disputes.I will seek the assessment of the Israeli leadership about the recent developments in this region which have caused concern all over the world and have direct implications for India.”
India remembers the help that the Israeli Government provided in rushing critical defence supplies to India when it required them most urgently in 1999. India also appreciates the support that it has received from Israel for its rightful claim to a permanent seat in the UN Security Council.
The President said India has been a strong voice of developing countries in the UN and other multilateral organizations
. We see that the administrative architecture of international bodies is not effective enough in enforcing their decisions. The United Nations was established at the end of the Second World War. Today its organizations need to be more responsive to the challenges that the world faces – and its structure as well as administrative and financial architecture need reform to make them more reflective of the changed world.
He informed the Israeli gat to stimulate India’s domestic manufacturing sector, Government of India has launched “Make in India” campaign. Israeli innovation and technology can combine with Indian engineering and scale to manufacture in India. Such a partnership, particularly in the defence sector, has the potential of creating new markets and generating more jobs – both in India and Israel.
The President said India attaches high importance to its relationship with Israel. Relations between India and Israel have taken great strides in the last few years. We are cooperating and collaborating in a range of areas from defence and agriculture to science, research and innovation. We are also discovering and identifying new areas of complementarities where there is significant potential to be realized. There are tremendous opportunities for mutually beneficial collaboration. As two leading knowledge economies of Asia and the world, India and Israel have many strengths and much to learn from each other’s experiences.
The President discussed the many global challenges that India and Israel face today – including the growing menace of terrorism and extremism, common concerns about climate change and the urgent need for reform of global governance architecture with Israeli leadership during his visit. The President said India is distressed at the recent violence. India condemns all forms of terrorism. We have always advocated a peaceful resolution of all disputes. He will seek the assessment of the Israeli leadership about the recent developments in this region which have caused concern all over the world and have direct implications for India.
The President said future for bilateral relations between India and Israel is promising. “In the twenty years since we normalized our relations, we have learned to do business with each other and have developed a substantial bilateral agenda. The time is opportune for us to further strengthen our economic cooperation and intensify our collaborations in science and technology. We believe that robust academic exchanges will help us build a rewarding partnership in areas of advanced technology,” he said.
