A group of prominent Indian Americans and Jewish Americans are planning to use Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Israel soon after his visit to the U.S as an occasion to buttress the idea of an India-Israel-U.S triangular partnership in security and technology.
Mr. Modi will reach Israel on July 4 for a three-day visit, the first by an Indian PM. A delegation of nearly two dozen Indian Americans and Jewish Americans will travel to Israel, corresponding with the PM’s tour. The group will host policy forums at Israeli think tanks, and participate in a community event that Mr. Modi is scheduled to address in Israel. American Jewish Committee's Asia Pacific Institute, Indian American group Indiaspora and Global Indian Jewish Relations Institute (GIJRI) are organising the initiative.
Policy forums at Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), Tel Aviv University, BESA (Begin-Sadat Center) and Bar Ilan University will discuss opportunities for enhancing India-Israel relations in the academic, commercial, start-up, entrepreneurship, emergency management & strategic arenas, said M.R. Rangaswami, founder of Indiaspora. Mr. Rangaswami said due to the close cooperation between Indian, Jewish and American technology entrepreneurs, a “tech triangle” between Bangalore, Tel Aviv and the Silicon Valle is taking shape.
The initiative is also aimed at enhancing relations between the influential Jewish and Indian diaspora communities globally. Bharat Barai, Chicago-based surgeon who was instrumental in organizing the 2014 Madison Square community reception for Mr. Modi is the chairman of GIJRI. “Warm ties that exist between the Jewish and Indian diaspora communities in the US. GIJRI's aim is to enhance these ties primarily in the U.S but also in Canada, U.K. and Australia where both communities are highly influential,” he said.
“The increasing openness and confidence of the natural partnership between India and Israel is profoundly encouraging to all of us – in both countries, as well as in the Indian and Jewish diaspora communities in the United States – who have been working diligently to strengthen trilateral ties over the last quarter-century. And this lack of shyness or ambivalence, this embrace of common cause by sister democracies, will be on full display in next weeks’ historic visit to Israel by Prime Minister Modi,” Jason Isaacson, Associate Executive Director for Policy, AJC. “AJC will proudly be present in Israel to mark and celebrate this important new stage in the growth of the mutually beneficial India-Israel alliance,” he said.
The Indiaspora delegation of 15 comprise tech entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and management leaders from the various cities in the U.S. Arun Kumar, former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Commerce and currently Chairman of KPMG, India, will also be part of the delegation.
