Israel rolls out red carpet for Modi
Even sky is not the limit for us, Prime Minister tells friend Netanyahu, bats for Israeli technology
JERUSALEM: India and Israel on Tuesday took historic steps towards a new engagement, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcoming his visiting Indian counterpart Narendra Modi by saying the future of the bilateral relationship lay in Israeli technology being wedded with Indian talent.
Modi’s visit, the first by an Indian prime minister since the two countries established diplomatic ties in 1992, is expected to elevate the relationship built on the bedrock of defence and security cooperation to a higher level by boosting collaboration in high technology, agriculture, water management and trade.
Netanyahu personally received Modi at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport, an honour previously accorded only to the Pope and the US President.
He greeted Modi in Hindi, saying: “Aapka swagat hai, mere dost (Welcome, my friend).” Modi responded in Hebrew, “Shalom, ani same’ah lihyot kan (Hello, I am happy to be here).”
The two prime ministers hugged three times and referred to each other as “my friend” several times, with their mutual bonhomie openly evident to a large crowd that included the entire Israeli cabinet and heads of Abrahamic faiths.
Describing Modi as a “great world leader”, Netanyahu said Israel had waited for the past 70 years for a visit by an Indian premier.
“It is truly a historic visit,” he said, adding, “We love India and we view you as kindred spirits in our journey.”
Netanyahu referred to Indian talent and Israeli technology as “I-squared and T-squared” during the red carpet welcome and added: “I-squared plus T-squared is the future of our bilateral ties. When I and Prime Minister Modi met on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in September 2014, we decided to break down the final walls that separate us. Prime Minister Modi said the sky was the limit but today we have reached space with the two countries joining hands.”
Modi reminded the gathering that Tuesday was the 41st anniversary of Operation Entebbe, Israel’s daring mission to rescue more than 100 passengers of an airliner that was hijacked to Entebbe airport in Uganda.
Netanyahu’s elder brother, Col Yonatan “Yoni” Netanyahu, was killed during the operation.