TEL AVIV – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi that he was “deeply moved” by Modi’s “making history” and becoming the first Indian prime minister to visit Israel.
“What a great day, the first day of a historic journey – your visit, my friend, Prime Minister Modi, to Israel. You are making history. We are making history together,” Netanyahu told Modi.
“This is a deeply moving moment for me, both in personal, but also in national and international terms,” he added.
“I have a feeling that today, India and Israel are changing our world and maybe changing parts of the world. Because this is a cooperation, it’s a marriage really made in Heaven but we’re implementing it here on Earth,” he said.
The Israeli prime minister accepted his Indian guest’s invitation to his own country for an official visit. A diplomat in Delhi said last week that such a visit was already being planned and would likely happen towards the end of the year.
A total of seven bilateral agreements were signed between the two countries during Modi’s visit, including memorandums of understanding in support of joint ventures in the high-tech sphere, satellite and water technology.
For his part, Modi said that India and Israel share common threat of terrorist attacks.
“We are aware of strategic threats to regional peace and stability. We have witnessed terror, so has Israel. Prime Minister Netanyahu and I agreed to do much more together to protect our strategic interests and also combat growing radicalization, including in cyberspace,” he said.
Netanyahu quipped that the Indian chef who prepared the meal he shared with Modi was the same chef who cooked for a date with his wife Sara three decades ago.
“Almost 30 years ago, I went on a date in Tel Aviv in an Indian restaurant, and produced two fine children,” he said. “It produced two fine children.”
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.