Modi-bibi show as India, Israel firm up bilateral ties

NEW DELHI: Business, bonhomie and a touch of Bollywood marked talks between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday as the two countries set the contours for their engagement over the next 25 years.

The big picture includes stronger defence ties, partnerships in new areas such as Big Data and oil and gas exploration, and the strengthening of what Modi described as the “existing pillars of cooperation” — agriculture, science and technology, and security.

The countries signed 9 agreements , but what stood out at the joint address by the two leaders after the talks was the bonhomie between them, with Netanyahu, nicknamed Bibi, even addressing Modi by his first name.

The sensitive issue of India’s vote against the US on the status of Jerusalem (and therefore against Israel) at the United Nations couldn’t spoil the mood.

Officials present during the talks said the two leaders agreed that their ties “are not determined by a single issue”.

Modi became the first Indian Prime Minister to visit Israel last year. During the joint address, Modi said he had invited Israeli arms manufacturers to invest in India, taking advantage of the country’s liberal foreign investment rules. During their talks, both Modi and Netanyahu took note of the readiness of Israeli companies to enter into joint ventures with Indian firms in the

defence sector. According to a joint statement, the two leaders “consider it important to set the direction for developing more business models and partnerships for the joint ventures and joint manufacturing, including transfer of technology and joint research and development in the defence and security fields.”

Israel is one of India’s biggest arms suppliers and sells arms and defence equipment worth around $1 billion to the latter

every year. The two countries also picked “oil and gas, cyber security, films, and start-ups” as new focus areas for the partnership, Modi said.

Israelis are no strangers to Bollywood, as was evident during the lunch hosted by the PM for his Israeli counterpart. As the live band picked up the tune of Ichak Dana from the old Raj Kapoor film Shree 420, many from the Israeli delegation said they knew the song.