Strategic partners India and Israel deepened their collaborations in the water and agriculture sectors with the formal exchange of agreements held between the two sides on Tuesday.
The proposed agreements were signed during Israeli Foreign Affairs Minister Eli Cohen’s visit to India.
Continuing its cooperation in agriculture and water management, the Ministry of External Affairs informed that, “India and Israel exchanged two Letters of Intent (LoI) for setting up of Centres of Water Technology at IIT, Roorkee, and IIT, Madras and another LoI for the establishment of an upgraded Centre of Innovation in Agriculture at ICAR, Pusa, New Delhi.”
It is pertinent to note that under its new work programme, several steps are being taken to strengthen the Israel-India strategic partnership and development cooperation in the fields of agriculture and water management.
Further, an important agreement on mobility was also exchanged. The agreement will allow 42,000 Indian workers to work in Israel in the fields of construction and nursing.
“Both Ministers initialled on a ‘Framework Agreement on Facilitation of Temporary Employment of Workers in Specific Labour Market Sectors in Israel’ for the recruitment of construction workers and caregivers from India,” the Ministry of External Affairs added.
Significantly, three B2B MoUs were also signed between India’s Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Israeli business bodies during the India-Israel Business Forum during the meeting.
India is a world power, retorts the Israeli Foreign Affairs Minister
In his brief meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday, Israeli FM Eli Cohen underlined India as a world power.
In what is considered to be his first bilateral meeting with PM Modi, the visiting Foreign Minister said, Tuesday’s high-level talks focused on strengthening the strategic relations between the two nations. A major focus was also given by both sides on exploring the opportunities for collaboration and partnership in diverse fields.
He said, “India is a world power, the fifth largest economy, and the most populous country in the world. I spoke with Modi about strengthening the strategic relations between the countries.”
During the talks, both sides held discussions on deepening bilateral cooperation in a broad spectrum of areas, including agriculture, innovation, and water. However, Tuesday’s talk focused prominently on ways India can contribute to the Abraham Accords and the promotion of a free trade agreement between them.
Meanwhile, speaking of the details of the meeting with FM Cohen, PM Modi said, “Glad to have met Foreign Minister of Israel @elicoh1. We discussed ways to further deepen bilateral cooperation in priority areas of agriculture, water, innovation and people-to-people ties.”
It is pertinent to note that FM Cohen arrived on a three-day official visit to India on Tuesday, but shortly after announced an immediate cut-short of his official visit, citing ‘Security Update’ reason in his country.
“I landed a short time ago in New Delhi, the capital of India, and immediately upon landing I received a security update. In light of the events in Israel, I decided to cut short the diplomatic visit to India,” he said
Accompanied by a 37-member business delegation and senior Israeli government officials, FM Cohen’s brief visit to India has provided a significant push to the bilateral relations between India and Israel, which have marked qualitatively new highs ever since the historic visit of Prime Minister Modi to Israel in July 2017.
Apart from addressing an India-Israel Business Forum, FM Cohen attended several bilateral meetings with External Affairs Minister Dr. S Jaishankar, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval.
Source : NewsOnAir