As external affairs minister S.M. Krishna prepares for his Israel visit slated for early next week — the first by an Indian foreign minister in 11 years — Tel Aviv is saying that it sees this as a natural development given the growing ties between the two countries in the last two decades.
Speaking to this newspaper on Thursday, Israeli ambassador in New Delhi, Alon Ushpiz, said: “We attach the highest importance to S.M. Krishna’s visit to Israel. We see it as a very, very natural development...a natural flow of events as in the last two decades the two countries have been able to create a flourishing level of relations which should also be manifested in exchange of high-level visits.”
Mr Ushpiz added, “We have felt the highest degree of intimacy and friendship from Indian officials, politicians and Indians per se. I don’t feel any problem in the relations. When we say that the visit is a natural expression of what’s going on between nations and governments, it means we have done so beautifully in the last 20 years.”
Stating that Mr Krishna would have a “packed, intensive schedule.” Mr Krishna said that Israel would “show our best friend how multi-faceted we are.” On the anvil during the three-day visit beginning January 9 are agreements on extradition and transfer of prisoners, said Mr Ushpiz.
While bilateral relations between India and Israel have grown, India has chosen to keep them somewhat understated given both its domestic and international compulsions. Jaswant Singh was the last visit Indian foreign minister to visit Israel in the year 2000 during the NDA regime.
Walking the tight-rope between flourishing ties with Israel and its good relations with Palestine, Mr Krishna will also be going to Ramallah and meeting with PLA president Mahmoud Abbas.
Defence, trade and agriculture are among the areas where there’s increasing cooperation between India and Israel. In defence, Israel has become the second largest supplier of arms and equipment to India with sales worth approximately one billion dollars annually.
Asked about defence ties, the Israeli ambassador replied: “These are things that we do not discuss in the public domain.” However, he added, “Israel and India are very close friends and being close friends, the livelihood and well-being of India as a country, a nation, a state, a society and the well-being of each one of India’s citizens is very close to our hearts.”
The ties are burgeoning in the agriculture sector too which has seen the two countries hammering out a Joint Working Plan to set up Centres of Excellence in seven states. It’s one of the areas that’s expected to come up for discussion when the two sides meet during Mr Krishna’s visit. “The two sides are going to discuss in detail what we can and should do when it comes to agriculture,” said Mr Ushpiz. Other than this, the two countries have also been forging ahead with cooperation in the filed of research and development, said Mr Ushpiz.