Bedrock of strong partnership: India, Israel make history; ink 7 agreements

India and Israel on Wednesday signed seven agreements to increase cooperation in key sectors like space, agriculture and water conservation after Prime Minister Narendra Modi held in-depth talks with his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed for setting up of USD 40 million worth India-Israel Industrial Research and Development (R&D) and Technical Innovation Fund.

Calling the relationship between India and Israel "a marriage made in heaven", Netanyahu said that both the countries are making history.

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Prime Minister Modi said, "We are of one view that together our scientists and researchers would develop, build and implement mutually beneficial solutions in the field."

"Our decision to establish a bilateral Technology Innovation Fund worth USD 40 million for research in industrial development will help us in achieving this goal. We regard thriving two-way trade and investment flows as the bedrock of a strong partnership. Prime Minister Netanyahu and I agreed on the need to do more in this direction. Businesses on both sides should take primary lead in such efforts," he said.

In the water sector, two agreements were signed to increase cooperation on water conservation and state water utility reform in India.

Modi said that Israel is among the leading nations in the field of innovation, water and agricultural technology and "these are also among my priority areas in India's development".

"We agreed that efficiency of water and resource use; water conservation and its purification; productivity increases in agriculture are key areas in deepening our
bilateral cooperation," he said.

In the agriculture sector, the two countries have agreed for India-Israel Development Cooperation - a three-year work programme in agriculture from 2018 to 2020. They also agreed for cooperation regarding cooperation in atomic clocks.

Besides, separate MoUs were signed on cooperation in GEO-LEO optical link and cooperation in Electric Propulsion for small satellites. Modi also said that during their talks he and Netanyahu agreed to to do much more together to combat terrorism to protect their strategic interests.