On the sidelines of the launch of the Israel Centre at IIMB, Ambassador of Israel to India Daniel Carmon, in an interview to The Hindu , spoke about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s expected visit to India next year, Indo-Israel relationship, and tourism, among other things.
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu is planning to visit India in January next year. Mr. Netanyahu will be the first Israeli PM to visit India since Ariel Sharon in 2003. What will be on the agenda?
This is under discussion. The previous visit of Indian PM Narendra Modi to Israel reflected the rich relationship shared between both the countries. The agenda of the visit would definitely be on development, innovation, science and technology, and academia.
Would there be any exchanges possible between the two countries in water sharing and agricultural management sharing technologies with Israel being one of the leading countries in agricultural research?
There are already plenty of initiatives in terms of sharing agricultural technologies, with India and Israel coming together to form one of the largest centres for agricultural research outside of Israel, which is the Indo- Israel Agriculture Project. Through many more such centres, we hope to create more centres of excellence. These centres, will be where Israeli technology is shared in agricultural development, especially in fruits and vegetables, bee-keeping, among others. These centres are also becoming gatherings for farmers to learn and share agricultural practices and technology.
Have tourism opportunities between the two countries increased?
Tourism to India from Israel has definitely increased and both countries will be looking for more means to strengthen this sector. Tourism is a very important aspect in bilateral relations.
