Narendra Modi made history by becoming the first Indian Prime Minister to visit Israel. During his three-day visit beginning July 4, 2017, he met his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu and other dignitaries, besides a special and emotional interaction with Moshe Holtzberg, who survived the 26/11 terror attacks. Here is a handful of interesting quotes and events from the visit.
1. India-Israel ties are a marriage made in heaven, practised on earth.
Mr. Netanyahu while according a warm welcome to Mr. Modi said the India-Israel relationship was a marriage made in heaven, but implemented on Earth. Interestingly, this is not the first time Mr. Netanyahu has used this phrase to describe Israel’s relationship with another country — in March 2015, he had described the Israel-China relationship in similar terms.
2. “'I' for 'I' is India for Israel, and 'I' with 'I' is India with Israel”
The Israeli PM, in his welcoming speech, summed up the formula for success as “ I2 T2”. This, he said, is equal to “Indian talent times Israeli technology. It equals Israel-India's ties for tomorrow.”
Later, when Mr.Modi met the Israeli President Reuven Rivlin, he, in what seems to be a response to the previous comment, said that 'I' for 'I' is India for Israel, and 'I' with 'I' is India with Israel. Indians, he added, feel that 'Israel' means 'Israel is a real friend'
3. “Make with India"
In his speech welcoming the Indian PM Modi, Mr.Netanyahu said that in India-Israel relations, even sky isn’t the limit because the space programmes of the two countries are working together to achieve greater heights. “On this visit,” he said, “you're making India Initiative meets my "Make with India" policy”.
4. "You can visit India anytime. Will give you and your family long-term visa"
On the second day of his visit to Israel, the PM met Moshe Holtzberg, the 11-year-old whose parents were killed in the 26/11 Mumbai attacks . Mr. Holtzberg, who escaped the terrorist attack with the help of his nanny, now lives with his grandparents in Israel. Mr. Modi has offered him and his family long term visas to visit India “anytime”.
5. OCI cards for Indians in Israel, direct flights to Tel Aviv
Addressing the Indian community in Israel, Mr.Modi promised to issue Overseas Citizen of India cards to the Indian origin persons who have done compulsory military service in Israel. The card helps ease the difficulty of finding employment opportunities and other facilities for Indian-origin foreign citizens in India. He also promised to set up direct flights from Delhi and Mumbai to Tel Aviv.
