Saurabh Shukla in New York
Two guests at the New York Palace hotel had secret service detail close to the POTUS, the President of the United States.
The Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Benjamin Netanyahu met as the agents kept a hawkish vigil, the signals jammed, and lifts coming to a standstill. It was not a usual meeting on the side-lines of the UN General Assembly session, but with a clear purpose. Let’s get to the next.
Level of cooperation in the war against terror to defeat the common enemies that pose threat to each other.
“We will intensify cooperation and you should see the result in a few monthsâ€, is what a senior official told mail today.
While the officials here are tight lipped about the exact nature of support between Israel and India, following the meeting, the two countries may move a step closer to exchanging real prized Intel information on terror groups and those which endanger their interests.
The next level of cooperation will be for operational partnership which requires a political will. It is believed to have been signalled in the meeting between Netanyahu and Modi.
India and Israel have also agreed to exchange information on the activities of the groups like ISIS and LeT. Both countries are concerned at the growing terror axis of groups in Pakistan, which were responsible for the 26/11 attacks and are planning attacks against the two countries.
Another focus of the discussion was on cyber security where the two countries will intensify cooperation. Netanyahu told Modi that when he visited California, he noticed that most of the software engineers were either from Israel or India and hence, wants both countries to have a greater cooperation in the IT service industry as well.
Besides counter terrorism the discussion focused on a range of issues including defence cooperation and the situation created by the Islamic State (IS) in West Asia.
During the 30-minute meeting, Netanyahu invited Modi to visit Israel at an early date.
Netanyahu recalled that Modi had come to Israel in his earlier capacity as Chief Minister but he now hopes that he could visit as Prime Minister, External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said.
He said Prime Minister Modi had taken note of the invitation and it would be discussed further through diplomatic channels. The Spokesperson said the two leaders discussed ways to enhance economic cooperation and Israel offered expertise in water management and other agricultural-related areas. India and Israel have a very robust relationship and currently bilateral trade stands at approximately $6 billion.
Apart from these, there were discussions on matters relating to how Israel perceives developments in the region that is West Asia. Also, “Israeli Prime Minister explained their views and vision on talks happening between Iran and P5 Plus 1,†the Spokesperson said. Asked if there was a discussion on defence deals, he said, “Yes there was a discussion in terms of defence ties and the Prime Minister explained that his new vision of ‘Make in India’ was a priority.”
He also explained that right now in defence sector Israel or any other country can invest up to 49%. And the Prime Minister made a pitch for skill sharing in areas like IT and water management.”
According to diplomatic officials, today’s meeting on the side-lines of the UN was rare and has not happened in the last one decade.
The last time the Prime Ministers of the two countries met was ten years ago when Ariel Sharon had come to India. The two leaders discussed the developments in the West Asia region.
During the meeting, Modi, who had met a Jewish group earlier, also mentioned that there was no discrimination against the community in India.
The Prime Minister was accompanied by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval.