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Hailing Prime Minister Narendra Modi's two-day Israel visit as a "significant milestone" in bilateral relations, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri on Thursday stated it set the stage for the "next phase of important partnership."
Detailing the significance of the trip, the Foreign Secretary stated that the visit serves as a bridge between a decade of progress and future collaboration. "The Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, has just concluded a visit to Israel. The Prime Minister is here on a state visit at the invitation of Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel," Misri said. The visit is particularly noteworthy as it comes nearly a decade after the Prime Minister's inaugural trip to the country. "This is the Prime Minister's second visit to Israel; he was last here almost 9 years ago, which was his first visit. This visit marks a very significant milestone in India-Israel relations. It reflects the progress made over the past decade and sets the stage for the next phase of this important partnership," the Foreign Secretary added. PM Modi is the first Indian Prime Minister to address the Israeli Parliament, Knesset, marking his second visit to Israel in a decade, after his 2017 trip. Despite the brief duration of the stay, the Foreign Secretary highlighted the substantial results achieved during the "exceptional visit." "This has been, in Prime Minister Netanyahu's words, an exceptional visit. It's been a short visit, slightly over 24 hours, but it has been a very rich visit in terms of outcomes, and therefore a very productive exercise," he remarked. The historic meeting saw collaborations on the fronts of high-tech artificial intelligence, quantum computing, economic, diplomatic and security collaboration. These included MoUs on geophysical exploration, development of a National Maritime Heritage Complex in Lothal, fisheries and aquaculture, and the declaration of intent in the field of horizon scanning, among others. Misri further contextualised the trip within a broader regional strategy, noting that it is part of a concerted effort by the Prime Minister to engage deeply with all major players in the region. "This visit comes in the context of an effort by the Prime Minister himself to take an interest in and pursue India's relations with all the countries in West Asia," Misri explained. Underscoring this "Link West" outreach, the Foreign Secretary pointed to a series of high-level engagements over the past year. "In the last year, the Prime Minister has paid visits to Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, to Jordan, Oman, and now to Israel. And of course, he has received several heads of state, heads of government, and other dignitaries from this region as well," Misri said. (ANI)
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