PM Modi receives former Israeli President

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday received Israel's former president Shimon Peres.

Peres congratulated Prime Minister Modi 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.

Peres 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.

Prime Minister Modi said that it was a great honour for him to meet Peres, whose life was a source of inspiration for the entire world. He lauded the immense contribution of Peres to the world polity and the development of India-Israel relations, in particular.

Prime Minister Modi recalled his visit to Israel as the Gujarat Chief Minister 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.

He 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.