Modi urges innovators to make most of Israeli tech

AHMEDABAD: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday pitched for greater cooperation with Israel to boost innovation in India. He said this while visiting the city with his Israeli counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu, on a day-long visit.

Dedicating the iCreate Centre at Deo Dholera village in Ahmedabad to the country, Modi urged innovators to make the most of Israeli technology to emerge triumphant in the fields of water conservation, agriculture and cyber-security.

“The entire world is influenced by the technology and creativity of Israel. Israel has proven... that it is the people’s resolve, not the size of a nation, that takes it forward,” he said.

iCreate (short for International Centre for Entrepreneurship and Technology) is an autonomous institution on the outskirts of Ahmedabad that aims to identify and nurture budding entrepreneurs. It is one of the organisations that facilitate the Centre’s India-Israel Innovation Bridge initiative by hosting startups from both the countries.

The Prime Minister said he decided to link iCreate with Israel upon its launch a few years ago. “I wanted this institution and our youth to benefit from Israel’s experience as well as their start-up environment,” he added.

The BJP government at the Centre was working towards making the “entire system in our country” innovation-friendly, Modi said.