The External Affairs Ministry has said that the focus of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Israel has been on technology, including areas such as artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, innovation, research, and start-ups. Briefing the media in Jerusalem at the conclusion of the Prime Minister’s visit, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said that Mr. Modi and his Israeli counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu, decided to elevate the existing Joint Commission on Science and Technology to the Ministerial level.

He said that Mr. Modi’s visit to Israel marks a significant milestone in relations between the two countries. He added that the visit reflects the progress made over the past decade and sets the stage for the next phase of this important partnership. He noted that this was the Prime Minister’s second visit to Israel. Mr. Misri said that the visit comes in the context of the Prime Minister’s efforts to actively engage with and strengthen India’s relations with all countries in West Asia.

He added that in the past year, the Prime Minister has visited Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Oman, and now Israel. During his visit, Prime Minister Modi was conferred with the ‘Speaker of the Knesset Medal’, the highest honour of the Israeli Parliament, in recognition of his exceptional contribution to strengthening strategic ties between the two countries. He is the first foreign leader to receive the award. Mr Misri informed that earlier, the Prime Minister held a tete-a-tete with Mr Netanyahu in Tel Aviv.

The two leaders reviewed the full spectrum of bilateral relations and discussed expanding cooperation in water management, agriculture, technology, and other key sectors. Mr. Misri informed that today the Prime Minister visited Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, where he paid homage to the victims of the Holocaust and participated in a brief prayer ceremony. He also met Israeli President Isaac Herzog, followed by delegation-level talks with Mr. Netanyahu covering science and technology, innovation, defence and security, trade and investment and people-to-people ties.