(TIE)
“THIS IS a marriage really made in heaven and we are implementing it here on Earth,” declared Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in the golden and indigo-hued ambassador’s hall at the historic King David Hotel here. Modi laughed. Minutes later, India and Israel decided to elevate their relationship to a “strategic partnership”, after negotiations and last-minute changes in the joint statement.
It was apt that the two leaders chose the hotel, where 91 people were killed in a bomb attack in 1946, to flag terrorism in their short statements. “India and Israel live in complex geographies. We are aware of strategic threats to regional peace and stability. India has India, Israel forge ‘strategic partnership’, send strong message on terror suffered first-hand the violence and hatred spread by terror. So has Israel. Prime Minister Netanyahu and I agreed to do much more together to protect our strategic interests and also cooperate to combat growing radicalisation and terrorism, including in cyber space,” Modi said in his remarks after the talks.
