India invites Israel to participate in its development programmes

Jerusalem, Oct 16 (ANI): President Pranab Mukherjee invited Israel to participate in India's flagship programmes like Digital India and help build smart cities to transform the country. Mukherjee, who reached Jerusalem on Tuesday after visiting Jordan and Palestine, was accorded a ceremonial reception at the presidential palace by his Israeli counterpart Reuven Rivlin. Delivering a speech at Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Mukherjee invited Israel to participate in India's key initiatives. Mukherjee also promoted Prime Minister Narendra Modi's pet 'Make in India' programme to encourage foreign direct investments and stimulate the manufacturing sector of the Indian economy. Mukherjee was conferred an honourary doctorate by the varsity. He received the honourary doctorate for his steadfast commitment to higher education, contribution in strengthening the Indian economy and his long-time advocacy of strong Indo-Israel ties, said reports. India and Israel also signed two key Memorandum of