India, Israel relations have matured: Olmert

Thursday, 09 December 2004, 20:30 IST
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NEW DELHI: Israeli Vice Prime Minister Ehud Olmert Thursday concluded his four-day visit to India on an upbeat note, saying bilateral relations had reached a point of "no return". Olmert, who arrived in India Monday, had to cut short his visit to be in Israel for a meeting of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's Likud Party. Though Olmert could not call on Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, he met with seven cabinet ministers Wednesday and his visit helped clear any doubts about wilting bilateral relations after the Congress-led government assumed office in New Delhi in May. "Some people say (bilateral) relations have frozen, but I feel it is warming up and we are building a strategic relationship," he told reporters here Wednesday night, refuting reports that New Delhi's pro-Palestine stand had strained ties with Tel Aviv. "I can only speak for myself and I feel bilateral ties have matured to a point of no return," he said emphatically, noting that there was considerable expression of friendship by India towards the state of Israel. Ties between India and Israel had expanded significantly under the previous Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government, but the new government's Communist allies have been calling for severing defence and trade relations with the country. "There may be pressure (on the Indian government), but I didn't feel it," said Olmert, pointing out that External Affairs Minister K. Natwar Singh had gone out of the way to meet him twice during his visit. Olmert, who headed a delegation of about 70 businessmen, said the visit was exceptionally satisfactory. Some important agreements signed during Olmert's visit include a statement of intent to set up a joint industrial research and development unit for supporting India-Israel industrial projects and a study group on trade ties. Significant among the agreements entered into by the visiting businessmen with their Indian counterparts is the tie-up between Israel's largest bank, Mizrah Bank, with India's private sector ICICI Bank. The visiting vice prime minister said his country was looking at cooperating with India on a range of high technology areas like nano-technology, biotechnology, agro-technology and IT. He agreed that defence was a significant part of the bilateral ties, but was not the only area of cooperation. Olmert, who is also the minister for industry, trade and labour, projected bilateral trade to touch $5 billion by 2007. The figure crossed $1.6 billion in September and is expected to touch $2 billion by December end.
Source: IANS
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