New Delhi: Ambassador Eynat Shlein, Head of MASHAV- Israel's Agency for International Development Cooperation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the State of Israel, concluded her official visit to India from June 10-16. According to reports, the objective of this visit was to boost Israel-India strategic partnership and development cooperation in the fields of agriculture and water.
Ambassador Eynat Shlein said, “India is a strong, strategic partner of Israel. The two most significant pillars of our growing relations are cooperation in agriculture and water, which was the focus during my visit to India. These two fields are so important that out of the six resident experts that Mashav posted around the world, two are based in India.”
During her visit, Ambassador Eynat Shlein went to Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan where she met senior government officials, local farmers and also visited Indo-Israeli Centers of Excellence that have been established under the framework of Indo-Israel Agricultural Project (IIAP).
Ambassador Shlein held a bilateral meeting with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, where they talked about enhancing the existing cooperation and future joint projects in water management and agriculture.
She said, “We are keen to continue and expand our cooperation with all our partners in India as we continue enhancing the strategic partnership between our two nations. Currently we have 29 fully-active Indo-Israeli Centers of Excellence in different parts of India, which are benefiting millions of Indian farmers on a daily basis.”
“Thirteen more such centers are in the pipeline. Gradually these centers will be expanded into Villages of Excellence in partnership with local state governments, which will further prove beneficial for larger populations,” she added.
One of the main highlights of her visit was the signing of a joint declaration between the State of Israel and the Irrigation and Water Resources Department, Government of Haryana, India in the field of integrated water resources management and capacity building.
As part of this agreement, MASHAV will share knowledge, capacity building and Israeli technologies for the development of water management sector in Haryana.
Ambassador Shlein also met senior leaders from the Department of Agriculture & Horticulture, Government of Rajasthan.
In Delhi, she held discussions with Economic Relations officials at the Ministry of External Affairs about continuing dialogues between both nations on development cooperation.
She also visited the office of National Mission for Clean Ganga, Ministry of Jal Shakti and discussed various areas of cooperation in the water sector.
A ‘Shalom Club Meet’ was organised where Ambassador Shlein shared her vision with MASHAV alumni from India, where they exchanged ideas and shared their experiences in Israel.
Notably, these alumni have received training in Israel in various courses such as water, agriculture, health, women empowerment among others.