Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahu to visit India this month

In what the Ministry of External Affairs has called a "return visit," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will begin a six-day, four-city visit to India on Sunday, January 14.

India and Israel will reaffirm their already strong economic and defence ties, and Netanyahu will also emphasising the bond that the two nations, which celebrated the silver jubilee of their diplomatic relatons last year.

Netanyahu's wife Sara will accompany him. She'll have separate engagements, as part of soft power diplomacy. The couple will travel to Agra to see the Taj Mahal.

Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to India comes 15 years after Ariel Sharon came to Delhi in 2003. It comes barely six months after Narendra Modi made history by becoming the first ever Indian prime minister to visit Israel.

Netanyahu's trip "is the grand finale to the celebrations of 25 years of (the) growing partnership between India and Israel. The visit will focus on the progress made between India and Israel since Prime Minister Modi's visit to Israel last summer, and on shaping the next 25 years of relations between our countries and our peoples," said Israeli Ambassador to India Daniel Carmon

MEETINGS WITH PRESIDENT, E.A.M

Netanyahu will arrive at around noon on Sunday, and meet External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.

Official engagements begin on Monday: a guard of honour at Rashtrapati Bhavan, wreath-laying at Rajghat, and meetings with President Ram Nath Kovind and Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu. Delegation-level talks will follow.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will host the Israeli delegation for lunch at Hyderabad House.

FOCUS ON BUSINESS, TRADE

There will be a special focus on business and trade during Netanyahu's visit.

The premier will travel with 130 businesspersons from his country.

Netanyahu and Modi will attend a CEOs' forum, and two business events - in Delhi and Mumbai.

Bala Bhaskar, the Joint Secretary WANA (West Africa and North Africa) division in India's foreign ministry, said "India and Israel's bilateral relationship has been expanding in the areas of agriculture, water, science and technology, innovation, start-up, space, education, culture, homeland security and defence," since the establishment of diplomatic ties.

RAISINA DIALOGUE

Benjamin Netanyahu will deliver the keynote address at the Raisina Dialogue organised by the Observer Research Foundation on January 16, and then travel to Ahmedabad with Modi.

The PM will host a grand lunch for his guest, and the two leaders will visit Sabarmati ashram. An eight-kilometre-long roadshow is said to have been arranged from the airport to the ashram.

The Israeli Embassy said the two premiers would "visit the Center of Excellence in Vadrad and inaugurate a Center of Excellence for date palms in Bhuj via video conference."

"They will also visit the iCreate innovation campus and center," the embassy said in a statement.

BABY MOSHE TO VISIT MUMBAI

In Mumbai, Netanyahu will highlight the importance of fighting terrorism. He'll be accompanied by Baby Moshe, the young boy who lost his parents in the 2009 terrorist attack at Chabad House. He'll be visiting Mumbai for the first time after that incident.

"In Mumbai, the Prime Minister will meet with Jewish community leaders and select members of the Indian business community. The Prime Minister will reach out to Bollywood in an exclusive "Shalom Bollywood" event", the statement read.

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