Israel will launch the 2018-2020 phase of its agricultural cooperation with India this week, ahead of its Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's New Delhi visit on January 14.
The MASHAV, an Israel Government agency for international development cooperation, will launch the new phase of Indo-Israeli Agricultural Project (IIAP) during the visit of its chief Gil Haskel to India.
Haskel commenced his visit to India on Monday. He will visit Bengaluru and Mumbai before concluding the visit on Thursday.
"The IIAP is MASHAV's biggest project outside of Israel, and it holds a significant portion of our bilateral relations. The success story of our agricultural cooperation is second to none, and it is only the beginning," Daniel Carmon, Israel's ambassador to India, said.
"We hope to see the same achievements in the fields of water, innovation and academia."
The MASAV chief will inaugurate a Center of Excellence for flowers in Thally, Tamil Nadu.
He will also award two $10,000 grants to MASHAV Alumni to continue their projects in women empowerment and farmer empowerment in India, a spokesperson of the Embassy of Israel India said.
He will meet officials overseeing the Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture of the Union Government, the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of External Affairs during his visit.
Modi's visit to Jerusalem and Tel Aviv in July this year was the first by an Indian prime minister. He and Netanyahu witnessed signing of a new three-year work programme in agriculture.
Netanyahu is likely to start his visit from Ahmedabad, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi will receive him.
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