Tel Aviv, Pretr. S Jaishankar, who arrived in Israel for the first time as External Affairs Minister, expressed confidence that the relations between the two countries will develop in new areas and the strategic cooperation will be further strengthened.
Jaishankar arrived in Tel Aviv on Sunday on a five-day official visit. During this, he will hold talks with the political leadership of Israel and discuss the possibilities of increasing bilateral cooperation.
As soon as he stepped on Israeli soil, Jaishankar tweeted – Shalom Israel… looking forward to the success of the tour. Jaishankar will meet Israeli President Isaac Herzog, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Foreign Minister Jair Lapid during his visit. The Indian External Affairs Minister will also meet people from the Israeli academia, business world and the Indian community. He will also visit historical sites in Israel.
Jaishankar will also pay homage by visiting a memorial in Jerusalem in the memory of Indian soldiers who died in saving the lives of the people of the area during the First World War. Memorials have been erected in the Israeli cities of Jerusalem, Ramle and Haifa in memory of the 900 Indian soldiers who were martyred. In the last two decades, Israel has fondly remembered this martyrdom of Indians and has given the freedom struggle of Haifa a prominent place in its history. Indians had lost their lives in liberating Haifa.
The Indian Army celebrates Haifa Day every year on 23 September in the memory of these brave soldiers. The martyred soldiers were from the Mysore, Hyderabad and Jodhpur Lancers regiments. Teen Murti Chowk in Delhi was renamed Teen Murti Haifa Chowk during the visit of the then Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to India in 2018.
Both countries are helping each other against the corona epidemic
Significantly, Israeli defense equipment manufacturers are at the forefront of investing under India’s Make in India programme. Both countries consider each other as strategic partners and are also helping each other against the corona epidemic. Cooperation is also going on between the scientists of both the countries to make a vaccine for another epidemic like corona.
