Netanyahu praises PM Modi for India's rise in Ease of Business rankings

Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for India's rise on the Ease of Business rankings list.

"I was astounded to know that Prime Minister Modi has moved India in the scale of ease of doing business 42 places in three years," Netanyahu said while addressing the inaugural session of the third annual Raisina Dialogue in Delhi.

He also talked about education and the Israeli Defence Force where young people are taught and trained.

"The weak don't survive, the strong survive, you make alliances with the strong, and you are able to maintain peace by being strong. So, therefore the first requirement from our time of our first Prime Minister was to achieve minimal strength required to assure existence," he said.

"India is one of world's most populous democracies. Its place that shows humanity can be governed with freedom that we can secure rights of people, ability to think, speak and believe what we want; society is pluralistic and diverse, free like Israel. Democracy is most important value. Democracies bind and connect to each other in natural ways," he added.

Prime Minister Modi and his Israeli counterpart attended the Raisina Dialogue after the two returned to the national capital after fulfilling their day's engagements.

Earlier in the day, Netanyahu and his wife Sara visited the Taj Mahal in Uttar Pradesh's Agra and thanked Prime Minister Modi for allowing him a visit to the 'temple of love'.

The Israeli premier, who is on a six-day visit to India, is accompanied by his wife Sara and a 130-member delegation from various sectors, including cyber, agriculture and defence.