India A Rising Power in The World Under PM’s Leadership

New Delhi, : Israel looks with admiration to the achievements of India under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his friendship remains very dear to the country, believes Reuven Azar, the Ambassador of Israel to India. “We are actually looking with admiration to the achievements of India under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. His friendship is very dear to us. We saw he was the first to call us following the 7th of October (Hamas attack). We saw how he stood by us during the last yearand-a-half. We know that we think alike on many things. We look at things in a similar way. We have similar challenges. Therefore, I am confident that in the coming years, we’ll be able to do many more things together,” Azar told IANS in an exclusive interview. He also called India “a rising power in the world” which is becoming important to Israel, not just as a business partner, but also as an element in its supply chains. The seasoned diplomat believes that the credit for a thriving, “great India-Israel partnership” goes to the leaders of the both countries – PM Modi and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – as they share a similar vision and have an agenda of development. “They want to create entrepreneurs. They believe in freedom. They believe in free markets, and in reform. This has brought them together. We have been working with India on many issues on defence, on defence industry, on irrigation and water- related issues. Now, we have the challenge to work on issues like high-tech and novation that create a huge effect on the economy. Underscoring the growing partnership etween the two nations, the Israeli Ambassador highlighted the historic high-level visit of a CEO delegation – led by Israel’s Minister of Economy and Industry Nir Barkat – to India earlier this month at the invitation of Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal.
The delegation, comprising over 100 top Israeli CEOs from healthcare, cyber and HLS, energy, automotive, retail, logistics and hi-tech sectors, showcased Israel’s innovative spirit and advanced capabilities. “About 80 to 100 companies came here to do business.
They met with the Indian companies. We also want to work together in the field of infrastructure as India has a lot to offer in this field. We want to sign agreements to ease business with us… We have mapped all these things we want to do together. We are working very seriously together with the Indian government… I hope that this year, in
which we are coming out of this war and are energized to do more things, we will achieve it,” said Azar.