Ambassador Mark Sofer says both countries can enhance ties in key areas like innovation, biotechnology & nano technology, among others
Israeli Ambassador to India, Mark Sofer on Tuesday spoke highly of Gujarat, and said that there was a lot of scope for enhanced ties between the state and Israel in various fields.
During his two-day visit to the state Sofer held meetings with chief minister Narendra Modi and ministers Saurabh Patel and Dilip Sanghani. Interestingly, Sofer's visit coincides with a high-level Gujarat government delegation going to Israel ahead of the upcoming Vibrant Gujarat Summit in January.
"There is lot in common between Israel and Gujarat, and we see huge potential in increasing ties between them. Especially in the fields of innovation, biotechnology, nano technology, energy, clean technology, water management," Sofer told media-persons on Tuesday.
Sofer said that Israel has been successfully able to manage water, create more water resources, purifying waste water for agriculture & industry.
"The same technology can be used in Gujarat. We have been able to make the deserts bloom in Israel, and it can also be done in Gujarat. Agricultural technology transfers can also take place," he said further, adding that the manpower in Gujarat was highly skilled and professional.
Talking about the Vibrant Gujarat Summit, Sofer said he expected a large Israeli delegation to take part in the event.
The ambassador also said that a few Israeli companies such as Netafim and Makhteshim-Agan were already making investments in Gujarat, and there was a high probability of more Israeli investment coming in the state.
Sofer also said that bilateral trade between India and Israel was growing rapidly and was expected to cross US $ 5 billion in the current year. He said that independent figures for trade between Israel and Gujarat were not available, but added that a large portion of Indo-Israel trade was in diamonds.
Heaping praises on Surat, the ambassador said, "Surat has emerged as the world leader in diamond industry, and we cannot compete with it. It has overtaken not only Israel, but also Antwerp, Hong Kong and other centres. The Israel diamond industry is rethinking its approach."
Asked to comment on the controversy regarding praising of German dictator Adolf Hitler in certain Gujarat textbooks in the past, Sofer said, "The textbooks did not praise Hitler, but they do not speak sufficiently about the massacres of Jews ordered by him. For us, Hitler is the epitome of evil, but the textbooks did not present the real horror of his acts."
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