Happy with India-Israel agriculture partnership: Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday expressed his happiness at the significant progress in partnership with Israel in the agriculture sector, an official said.

"Indian farmers had successfully adapted to the knowledge and expertise imparted by the Israeli Centres of Excellence. The new agriculture work plan would also promote cooperation in the areas of water and dairy," he told visiting Israeli Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel in a meeting on the sidelines of the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit, said a Ministry of External Affairs statement.

Modi called for an extended cooperation in new areas such as education, science, technology, research and innovation, while also emphasising on the facilititation in institutional linkages between Indian and Israeli universities.

Citing the 'i-Create' model in Gujarat, he conveyed to the minister that India was keen to learn from the start-up eco system of Israel and its incubation centres.

Ariel conveyed greetings from Prime Minister Benjamin Nethanyahu and said that as two ancient civilizations and young nations, India and Israel could do great things together.

He said that Israel was very proud to partner with India in agriculture and bring prosperity to Indian farmers. He also briefed on his recent visit to Maharashtra where he had met NABARD and expressed the hope of working with India in the dairy sector.

Referring to 2017 as a milestone year, marking 25 years of diplomatic relations between India and Israel, the minister extended an invitation to the Prime Minister to make an early visit to Israel.

Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit is taking place January 10-13, with this year's theme being "Sustainable Economic and Social Development".

--IANS

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