On India's Republic Day, Israel calls for continued efforts for shared growth and enduring friendship

Jerusalem, Jan 26 (PTI) Describing the Indo-Israel bond as "strong", Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz on Friday congratulated New Delhi on the 75th Republic Day celebrations calling to continue with efforts for “shared growth and enduring friendship.” In a bilingual post on social media platform X, Katz wrote: “Commemorating India's 75th #RepublicDay, I extend my respect to @DrSJaishankar and the people of India." and tagged his Indian counterpart.

“My respects to all Indians on the 75th Republic Day,” the post added in Hindi and further said, “Our nations' bond is strong, and we continue to strive for shared growth and enduring friendship.” Knesset's (Israeli parliament) speaker Amir Ohana also congratulated his counterpart Om Birla and Indians on the occasion.

“On behalf of the Knesset, I want to congratulate @ombirlakota and our dear friends in India on the occasion of India’s 75th Republic Day. May the enduring partnership between New Delhi and Jerusalem always prosper,” Ohana tweeted.

The Ambassador of India to Israel, Sanjeev Singla, in Tel Aviv, unfurled the tri-colour at his residence in the presence of embassy staff, an event that was attended by Indian community members virtually given the current regulations in view of the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas that erupted on October 7 last year.

After he read out the excerpts from President Droupadi Murmu's address to the nation, Singla touched upon the ongoing conflict in the region and reiterated India's position emphasising on an early and peaceful resolution of the conflict, including the release of the Israeli hostages through dialogue and diplomacy.

“The October 7 terror attacks have left a deep impact all around us. We have expressed our solidarity with Israel at this difficult hour while reiterating our concerns at the loss of civilian lives and the need for continued humanitarian aid for the civilian population in Gaza,” Singla said in his address.

He also thanked Indian community members who volunteered in the efforts to send back those who wanted to go to India during the early days of the conflict. Over 1,300 Indians left on six flights under Operation Ajay launched by the Government of India on October 11 soon after the conflict broke out.

He also mentioned important visits by Ohana, former Foreign Minister Eli Cohen, Minister of Economy Nir Barkat and the signing of an MoU on industrial research and development between India's Ministry of Science and Technology and Israel's Ministry of Defence for collaboration in high technology areas such as AI, quantum technology, semiconductors and synthetic biology.

India has emerged as Israel's second-largest trading partner in Asia and 11th largest globally, Singla mentioned, highlighting that bilateral merchandise trade between the two countries crossed USD 10 billion last year. PTI HM NPK NPK NPK