Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi received today His Excellency Mr. Shimon Peres, Former President of Israel. Mr. Shimon Peres congratulated the Prime Minister on his victory in the elections. He expressed deep appreciation for the ambitious programmes launched by the Prime Minister for India's economic and social transformation which, he said, struck the right balance between respect for tradition and use of modern technology. He said that India's development and growth will be beneficial to the entire world. He conveyed Israel's readiness to partner with India in its development efforts and, in this context, called for greater collaboration in the areas of new and higher technologies. He also shared his own vision of the way the introduction of new technologies would transform the human lives and the system of governance. The Prime Minister said that it was a great honour for him to meet Mr. Shimon Peres, whose life was a source of inspiration for the entire world. He lauded the immense contribution of Mr. Shimon Peres to the world polity and the development of India-Israel relations, in particular. The Prime Minister recalled his visit to Israel as Chief Minister of Gujarat following which he had promoted use of drip / micro irrigation in the State and also set up an incubation center to support start-up companies with Israeli collaboration. The Prime Minister reiterated the strong desire of India to further expand and strengthen its relations with Israel both in traditional areas as well as in new areas of cooperation. DS
