Jaishankar visits Israel for high-level talks, to invite PM Bennett to India

He will also interact with the Indian-origin Jewish community in Israel, Indologists, Indian students who are currently pursuing their education in Israeli universities

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will on Monday call on Israeli Prime Minister, Naftali Bennett, and invite him to visit India.

Jaishankar commenced his visit to Israel on Sunday. He will call on Israeli President Issac Herzog too, apart from meeting his counterpart Foreign Minister Yair Lapid.

A source in New Delhi said that Jaishankar would convey an invitation to Bennett on behalf of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Also Read | Jaishankar lays wreath at cemetery for Indian soldiers in Israel

“Shalom Israel! Arrived on my first visit as External Affairs Minister. Looking forward to a great visit,” the External Affairs Minister posted on Twitter.

Bennett took over as Prime Minister of Israel on June 13 this year. He succeeded Benjamin Netanyahu, who had visited New Delhi in January 2018.

Modi’s first visit to Israel in July 2017 saw India and the West Asian nation elevating bilateral relations to a strategic partnership. The relationship between the two countries has focused on expanding knowledge-based partnership, which includes collaboration in innovation and research, including boosting the ‘Make in India’ initiative, the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.

Also Read | India ‘strategic partner and very close friend’: Israeli official says ahead of EAM's visit

Jaishankar on Sunday laid a wreath at a war cemetery at Talpiot in Jerusalem and paid homage to Indian soldiers, who sacrificed their lives during the World War I while fighting for the British Army to liberate what later became Israel.

The External Affairs Minister will interact with the Indian-origin Jewish community in Israel, Indologists, Indian students who are currently pursuing their education in Israeli universities, and business people, including from the hi-tech industries.

Jaishankar and Lapid may also join US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan in a virtual meeting.

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