India and Israel on Tuesday vowed to upgrade their relations in all fields and work out a joint strategy to “checkmate” terrorism, while deciding on a roadmap to elevate cooperation in areas like defence, agriculture, trade and hi-tech in the next two decades.
Setting the ball rolling, external affairs minister S.M. Krishna, the first Indian foreign minister to visit the country in over a decade, called Israel a “natural ally” in all frontiers of science in his 90-minute breakfast meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
After his meeting with Israeli foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman, Mr Krishna said his visit was “excellent and productive”.
Mr Krishna said India and Israel, which signed two treaties on Tuesday — on extradition and the transfer of sentenced persons — faced a common problem in terrorism.
The minister and Indian officials said the focus was on setting the agenda for the next two decades. “The principal focus was on the future... how we should move this relationship,” said MEA spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin.
Said the foreign minister, Mr Lieberman: “Our relations are excellent. What we see is a very positive tendency.”