Israel Envoy Praises India’s Farm Bills

Israel Envoy Praises India's Farm Bills

As the Israel Envoy to India praised India’s new Farm Bills, let us look at the history of India-Israel relations from non-recognition to ‘close ties’.

Crux of the Matter

Praise From Israel
Ron Malka, the envoy of Israel to India, praised the Farm Bills recently passed in India. He claimed that opening the Indian farm market would ensure change in 2 steps:

  • 1st Phase: Enables farmers to “get what they deserve”.
  • 2nd Phase: Enhances “’supply-demand coordination”.

He predicted a better efficiency in agriculture and “better crops” for consumers in the long run for India. Providing an example of his own country, he said that Israel has “no middlemen” and has “very advanced digital platforms” to directly connect farmers with customers.

Malka also claimed that Israel’s “most successful collaboration on agriculture is with India”. He notified about “29 centres of excellence in agriculture” in India, which have trained 1,47,000 Indian farmers in 1 year.

Malka announced that a new Covid-19 testing kit, jointly developed by India and Israel, would be available in “a matter of days”. It is expected to show results within 30 seconds. Moreover, Uttar Pradesh and Israel signed a water-management agreement in August 2020. The agreement would aid the Bundelkhand region with the Israeli water-model.

India-Israel Relations In 20th Century

Till 1950s
India backed Palestine and did not share cordial relations with Israel earlier.

  • 1947: India voted against the partition of Palestine from which Israel was formed.
  • 1949: India voted against the admission of Israel in the United Nations (UN), though Israel was admitted as the majority of the nations backed it.
  • 1950: India finally recognized the state of Israel after 60+ countries did it. However, it didn’t establish official diplomatic relations. PM Nehru said that “we refrained from recognizing Israel because of our desire not to offend the sentiments of our friends in the Arab countries”.

1960s – 1970s

  • 1962: Israel provided arms and strategic information to India amidst the Indo-China war.
  • 1965: Israel provided arms to India amidst its war with Pakistan, when both the US and the Soviet refused to aid India.
  • 1971: War erupted between India and Pakistan over Bangladesh’s separation. Israel provided arms to India and the ‘Mukti Bahini’ which defeated Pakistan and created Bangladesh. However, Indian PM Indira Gandhi refused to establish official relations with Israel even after the war.

To know the recent history of India and Israel, check this story out: India-Israel Relations Since 1990s

Curiopedia
  • Israel is a world leader in the invention of new technologies. Some of the technologies it has produced are: the cell phone, voice mail technology, the first antivirus software, the Pentium MMX chip technology and most of the Window NT operating system.
  • The Camp David Accords were a pair of political agreements signed by Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin on 17 September 1978. Due to the agreement, Sadat and Begin received the shared 1978 Nobel Peace Prize. 
  • As a personal gesture, Israel named a new type of Crysthanamum flower after PM Narendra Modi. The name “chrysanthemum” is derived from the Ancient Greek word for Gold Flower.
Curated Coverage

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