India and Israel on Tuesday firmed up a mobility pact and vowed to expand ties in a range of areas such as trade, regional connectivity, and defence as Israeli foreign minister Eli Cohen held talks with the Indian leadership.
Cohen called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and held wide-ranging talks with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval on ways to further expand overall ties.
The Israeli foreign minister arrived this morning on a three-day visit but announced his decision to cut short the trip in view of Tel Aviv's operation against a militant group in the Gaza Strip.
The two sides signed an agreement that will allow 42,000 Indian workers to work in the Jewish state in the fields of construction and nursing, an Israeli readout said.
In an address at a business forum, Cohen said India, Israel and the Arab countries can together boost regional connectivity and railway networks in the Gulf region and would be carrying Indian shipments to the Israeli port of Haifa in the future.
"The trade that will come from India will land at an Arab port and from there can be taken by train to Haifa port," he said while giving an overview of the shape of future connectivity in the West Asian region.
His comments on connectivity in the region came two days after national security advisers of India, the US and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) met Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and discussed a major connectivity project.
In January, Israel handed over the strategic port of Haifa to the Adani Group. The Port of Haifa is the second largest port in Israel in terms of shipping containers and the biggest in shipping tourist cruise ships.
Our vision is that Israel, the Gulf Arab countries and India create the gate of the East to the West, Cohen said.
On his meeting with Cohen, Jaishankar, in a tweet, said the two sides initialed an agreement in the area of mobility and described his talks with the Israeli counterpart as "productive".
"The main pillars of our Strategic Partnership - Agriculture, Water, Defence & Security - are taking our ties forward. New agreements in water & agriculture today underline the potential to do more," he said.
"Discussed cooperation in high tech, digital & innovation, as also connectivity, mobility tourism, finance, and health. Noted the progress in I2U2 and cooperation in multilateral forums. Exchanged perspectives on our respective regions, Ukraine and Indo-Pacific," he added.
The I2U2 is a four-nation grouping. It is known as 'I2U2' with "I" standing for India and Israel and "U" for the US and UAE.
Jaishakar and Cohen also paid homage at the Haifa Chowk.
"This symbol of our shared history reflects the enduring India-Israel friendship," Jaishankar said.
During the meeting with Cohen, Defence Minister Singh underlined the government of India's priority towards indigenisation in accordance with the 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat Policy', the defence ministry said.
"He acknowledged the cooperation being extended by Israeli companies and encouraged them for more investments in India and for forging joint ventures with Indian partners to manufacture defence equipment in India," it said.
The ministry said the Israeli minister affirmed the continued cooperation of Israel in India's endeavour for indigenisation and conveyed the willingness to cooperate and partner in advanced technologies.
"Both sides acknowledged the completion of 30 years of diplomatic relationship between the two countries and looked forward to further strengthening the bilateral ties," it said.
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