Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in New Delhi on 14 January, for the first leg of his six-day India tour.
He was received at an airstrip by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, following which the two prime ministers moved to Teen Murti Memorial for a solemn renaming ceremony. At the short ceremony, the Teen Murti Chowk was renamed Teen Murti-Haifa Chowk. The ‘Haifa’ has been added in honour of the Indian soldiers martyred in Haifa, Israel in World War I.
The three statues at Teen Murti represent the Hyderabad, Jodhpur and Mysore Lancers, who were a part of the 15 Imperial Service Cavalry Brigade. This brigade carried out successful attacks on the city of Haifa in September 1918 at the time of World War I. A total of 44 Indian soldiers were martyred during the liberation of the Israeli city in World War I.
The lancers were known to have undertaken the siege on the heavily-protected city with great courage. Haifa was protected by a joint force of Ottomans, Germany and Austria-Hungary.
At the memorial, Netanyahu, his wife Sara, and PM Modi laid a wreath and signed a visitor’s book after the ceremony wrapped up.
Both prime ministers tweeted their reactions upon Netanyahu’s arrival. While Netanyahu went with a more traditional approach and thanked Modi for the warm welcome, PM Modi took a more effusive approach, tweeting: “Welcome to India, my friend PM Netanyahu! Your visit to India is historic and special. It will further cement the close friendship between our nations.”
Strengthening cooperation in key areas of trade and defence, including a possible inking of a multi-million dollar Israeli anti-tank missiles deal, is on the table during the visit of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with his envoy terming Indo-Israel ties ‘irreversible’.
After his meeting with PM Modi, Netanyahu met External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj in New Delhi.
On 16 January, Netanyahu will give the inaugural address at the Raisina Dialogue, a multilateral conference held annually in New Delhi, which is India’s flagship conference on geopolitics and economics. It is attended by heads of state, global policymakers, as well as members of the media and academia.
He is also scheduled to visit Gujarat and Maharashtra during the week. Netanyahu will also attend the ‘Shalom Bollywood’ event, aimed at exploring business opportunities for filmmakers in Israel.
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