Israeli Prime Minsiter Benjamin Netanyahu will visit India between 14-19 January, 2018, the Ministry of External Affairs announced on Thursday. The visit is a reciprocating gesture from Israel to the first Prime Minister-level visit from India undertaken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in July 2017.
Mr. Netanyahu will be the second Israeli Prime Minister to visit India; Ariel Sharon was the first Israeli PM to visit India in 2003, during the tenure of PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Commenting on the composition Prime Minister Netanyahu’s team, officials said that an Israeli business delegation will accompany him.
The visit marks the high point of the 25th anniversary of normal diplomatic ties between the two countries. Apart from Mr. Modi’s visit to Israel, President Pranab Mukherjee and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj have also visited Israel in the last three years.
India’s ties with the Jewish state have been in focus as India voted at the United Nations General Assembly last month against the US recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. The move was criticised by some sections of commentators, whereas India had defended it citing traditional policy on the two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict.
The visit indicates an upswing in bilateral ties that had received a boost when Ms. Swaraj made an announcement at her first press conference in 2015 about the PM-level visit to Israel from India. Israel’s President Reuven Rivlin also paid a visit to India in November 2016, in response to President Mukherjee’s visit to his country.
Officials of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said that during his visit Prime Minister Netanyahu will deliver the inaugural lecture at the Raisina Dialogue, the annual foreign policy-related discussion in Delhi. He will also participate in the Indo-Israeli CEO Forum in Delhi.
Apart from the events in Delhi, the visiting Prime Minister will travel to Gujarat, where he will visit the Centre for Excellence in Vadrad and inaugurate a Centre of Excellence for date palms in Bhuj via video conference. A press release from the Embassy of Israel in Delhi said that Mr. Netanyahu will also visit the iCreate innovation campus and centre.
The visit of the Israeli leader is symbolically significant. It is reported that he will be accompanied by the relatives of the Jewish priest who was killed along with his wife in the 26/11 attack in Mumbai. Mr. Netanyahu is also expected to offer his tributes to the victims of terrorism during his trip to Mumbai. In Mumbai, he will also reach out to the film world with the ‘Shalom Bollywood’ event.
In a statement issued on the visit, the Israeli ambassador Daniel Carmon said, “The Prime Minister’s visit to India is the grand finale to the celebrations of 25 years of growing partnership between India and Israel. The visit will focus on the progress made between India and Israel since Prime Minister Modi visited Israel last summer.”
