India, Israel to conduct join R&D for rapid coronavirus testing

India and Israel will put in joint research and development efforts for rapid testing of coronavirus to enable normalisation of life amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the embassy of Israel here said on Monday.

The two sides discussed joint R&D for rapid diagnosis of coronavirus based on big data and artificial intelligence, the Office of the Principal Scientific Advisor said.

"India and Israel to conduct joint R&D for rapid testing to allow normalisation of life under COVID-19," Avigail Spira, the spokesperson of the embassy, also tweeted.

"I'm proud to connect brilliant minds from India and Israel so they can jointly develop life changing solutions for the whole world, and especially in fighting the #COVID19 pandemic," Israel's envoy to India Ron Malka tweeted.

On the Indian side, PSA Prof. K Vijay Raghavan, officials from the Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO), Council for Scientific and Industrial Research and Sanjeev Singla and the Indian Ambassador to Israel participated in the discussions with the head of the Directorate of R&D in Israel's Ministry of Defence Daniel Gold and Malka.

"Discussed joint R&D for rapid diagnosis based on big data & AI technology, to enable a rapid return to routine. This is part of vision of @IsraeliPM & @PMOIndia for wide-ranging scientific cooperation between India and Israel.

"@kvijayraghavan, @DRDO_India, & @CSIR_IND held discussions with Head of Israel's Directorate of R&D in @Israel_MOD, Dr. Dani Gold, Amb.@DrRonMalka & Amb. Sanjeev Singla @Indemtel about high-level scientific cooperation between India & Israel to address #COVID19, the Office of the PSA tweeted.

Earlier this month, Israeli Defence Minister Naftali Bennett said scientists at the country's main biological research institute have made a significant breakthrough in developing an antibody to the novel coronavirus.

During Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to India in 2018, the two sides resolved to step up cooperation in the field of science and technology, including in the areas of big data analytics in health care and security in cyber space.