PM Benjamin Netanyahu seeks alliances for peace & to fight radical Islam

NEW DELHI: Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu has said nations require hard power to survive even as he called for strengthening his nation's alliance with India to fight Islamic radicalism.

"The weak does not survive, the strong survive, you make alliances with the strong, you are able to maintain peace by being strong. Therefore, the first requirement from the time of our first PM was to achieve minimal strength required to assure existence," Netanyahu said while inaugurating the third edition of Raisina Dialogue (India's premier foreign policy dialogue) in New Delhi on Tuesday. Netanyahu also dealt with themes of democratic values and principles.

"Democracies bind and connect to each other in natural ways. I saw sympathy and friendship of people. When I walked on streets of India, just like in Agra, someone said to me 'we are so happy that you are friends with our PM, we are friends with you and Israel'. The alliance of democracies is important to secure our common future, I believe possibilities are endless. In this visit, we have discussed how we can strengthen our two nations in civilian, security and in every area."

Referring to India's growing economic prowess, Netanyahu said: "I was astounded to know that PM Modi has moved India in the scale of ease of doing business 42 places in three years...Our main job, both India and Israel, is to cut the bureaucracy. " Pointing out that the growth of military power depended automatically on the economic power, the visiting PM said: "the future belongs to those who innovate. We have transformed our centralised economy into a free market economy. The minute we created this climate of entrepreneurship, there was place for talent. We have achieved that transition to a more liberal economy."