Israel’s agriculture minister Uri Ariel, is scheduled to be the chief guest at the inaugural event of the India Water Week beginning on Monday, the Embassy of Israel confirmed to The Hindu .
Apart from his interactions at the event in Delhi, Mr. Ariel is likely to travel to Haryana and Mumbai to increase awareness of Israel’s cutting edge water conservation and agriculture technology. “We are looking forward to start a new centre of excellence in Haryana and Mr. Ariel will inaugurate it during his visit,” Ohad Horsandi, spokesperson for the Embassy of Israel said.
Mr. Ariel is a known newsmaker in Israel as he is the chief of the Bayit Yehudi party, known to have opposed the Oslo Accord of 1993 signed between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) and supports a strong counter-terror policy.
Mr. Ariel’s visit is expected to provide dynamism to bilateral ties especially since Prime Minister Modi is likely to visit Israel in the next few months. However, Mr. Horsandi declined to specify the date of a likely Prime Minister-level visit to Israel. Sources however told The Hindu , that the visit of Mr. Ariel is likely to begin a new round of high-level bilateral visits.
