PM meets Israel’s Netanyahu, cyber security focus area
WASHINGTON/NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi met his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu in New York on Sunday — the first time the heads of the two countries have met in 11 years.
Between discussions on issues ranging from Iran and ISIS to West Asia, Israel invited India to be part of its national cyber defence authority, a dedicated force to fight cyber threats and a pet project of Netanyahu.
India, too, is keen on building a strong cyber defence system with countries across the world, including the US and UK. Modi is expected to bring this up with US
ISRAEL BEING ONE OF INDIA’S LARGEST ARMS SUPPLIERS, TALKS ALSO VEERED TOWARDS DEFENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COOPERATION.
President Barack Obama too as they talk, among other things, of homeland security and terrorism.
Israel’s cyber defence authority, launched a week ago, is envisaged as a link between civilian and military authorities in this field.
It works alongside the cyber bureau in the Israeli PMO, cover- ing threats both in terms of national security, economic activity and data of private individuals. “Cyber security is an area of great focus for Israel. They are futuristic in their approach,” said an Indian official.
Israel being one of India’s largest arms suppliers, talks also veered towards defence and technology cooperation. The Indian side brought up the expansion of trade relations, which has grown rapidly to $6 billion in recent years. External affairs ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said another point of discussion was “agriculture and water management because Israel is an expert on agriculture in arid areas”.
NEW DELHI: If you thought it was only the Indian media that was covering PM Narendra Modi’s US visit, you are mistaken – for the American media is gazing hard at what hit New York over the weekend.
When the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visited White House last year, on his final bilateral visit to the US, the Washington Post did not find it quite newsworthy.
This time, even before Modi got to the US capital, the paper had done several stories around his visit.
Annie Gowen, the India bureau chief of the Post, told HT, “There has been a lot more coverage than during previous Indian PM’s visits in the past. I have already done a story. We had a blog on the Madison Square Garden (MSG) event, and another story on the Indian diaspora. Our White House reporters will be covering Modi’s
HE (MODI )IS OBVIOUSLY A LARGER-THAN-LIFE FIGURE AND FAIRLY CHARISMATIC TO MANY INDIANS... THERE IS CURIOSITY ABOUT THIS PERSON INDIA HAS ELECTED. ANNIE GOWEN, Washington Post India bureau chief
meetings with Obama, as well as the state department lunch.”
The New York Times has also kept a close watch on the visit. Its South Asia bureau chief, Ellen Barry, wrote a piece introducing Modi’s style of governance so far, which was published on Page 1. The Times ran a snippet on how Modi’s fast would impact White House’ dinner diplomacy, as well as stories on Modi as the ‘Social Media Politician’, the build up to his MSG event, a mood piece on the event itself, and an analytical story on the bilateral relationship.
In one story, a reporter gushed, “Old and young, Indian-born and American-born, the crowd laughed and roared, hollered and clapped.”
In fact, Modi himself gave a pre-visit interview to CNN and wrote an oped in the Wall Street Journal.
The Economist, in a blog, was less adulatory in its tone, pointing to the traffic snarl caused by Modi, and analysed his motivations as two-fold — to build an American support base powerful enough to shape US policy towards India and provide TV images back home to confirm his status as a global giant. So what explains the interest? One reason is Americans, outside campaign season, are not used to the fever pitch excitement around a politician — especially at a time when their own politicians have low popularity ratings.