India, Israel Sign Nine Pacts During Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s First Indian Visit

Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu, who is in India for a six-day visit, said that India-Israel relationship is a “marriage made in heaven”. The two countries signed nine memorandum of associations (MoUs) in different fields.

Netanyahu was received with a ceremonial reception at the Rashtrapati Bhawan on Jan.15 and has been accompanied by his wife Sara. A delegation of 130-members from different sectors, including cyber, agriculture and defense is also accompanying the Israeli Prime Minister.

India and Israel signed and exchanged agreements in areas of amendment in air transport, cooperation in oil and gas, cyber-security, film co-production and many more areas on Jan.15. “Both sides also agreed to deepen cooperation in innovation, business and trade, space, homeland security and cyber, higher education and research, science and technology, tourism and culture,” said a statement from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Jan.15.

India was among the 127 countries in the United Nations to vote against the United States’ decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. “I don’t think one vote affects a general trend you can see in many other votes and these visits,” Netanyahu said, reported India Today in an interview during his maiden visit to India.

According to the MEA, the two Prime Ministers also discussed the developments pertaining to the Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process. They reaffirmed their support for an early resumption of peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians for arriving at a comprehensive negotiated solution on all outstanding issues, based on mutual recognition and effective security arrangements, for establishing a just and durable peace in the region.

Meanwhile, the 4,000 people strong community in India is excited about Netanyahu’s visit. The Israeli leader will visit the Chabad House in Mumbai, which was attacked during the 26/11 attacks. He will also accompany the 11-year-old Moshe Holtzberg, for whom this will be the first visit since his parents were killed in the terror attack.

His decision to meet only some members of the Jewish community has left many from the community disappointed. Members of the community wrote to Netanyahu saying, “your decision to meet a handful of so called ‘Jewish Leaders’ is being very unfair to the Jews of India,” reported Jerusalem Post.

“Our Indian Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi addressed a gathering of approximately 8000 Indians in Tel Aviv during his visit in July 2017 in Israel,” the letter noted. They requested him to address the 300-400 Jewish brothers and sisters for just 15 minutes. “It will mean so much to them and make them so happy,”. they wrote in the letter.