Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday that there could not be a better time to set new goals for taking India-Israel relations forward, and asserted that the cooperation between the two countries played a key role in the growth stories of both nations.
In a video message on the completion of 30 years of full-fledged diplomatic relations between India and Israel, Modi said the people of both countries always shared a special relationship. “This day holds importance in our relationship as full diplomatic ties were established between the two countries 30 years ago. A new chapter between the two countries had begun. It was a new chapter but history between us is age-old,” Modi said.
“For centuries, the Jew community has stayed in India in a harmonious environment without any discrimination and has grown. It has made an important contribution in our developmental journey,” he said. Modi also said the importance of India-Israel ties has increased at a time when significant changes are taking place. “I am confident that India-Israel friendship will continue to set new records of mutual cooperation in the decades to come,” the Prime Minister said.
Though India had recognised Israel on September 17, 1950, full-fledged diplomatic relations between the countries were established on January 29, 1992. Emphasising that “friendship and trust” were not only positive traits but also “real assets”, the foreign ministers of India and Israel, in a joint op-ed for an Israeli daily on Friday, said the two countries have worked together to “deepen their roots”. The development comes on a day when a New York Times report claiming that India bought Pegasus spyware as part of a defence deal with Israel in 2017 triggered a major controversy in India.
My message on the 30th anniversary of India-Israel full diplomatic relations. https://t.co/86aRvTYCjQ
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 29, 2022
