Netanyahu in Mumbai: Israeli PM meets top businessmen; says future belongs to those who innovate

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu began his Mumbai leg of his six-day India visit on Thursday.

Netanyahu's day began with a meeting with business leaders such as ICICI Banks's Chanda Kochar, Kotak Bank's Uday Kotalk, Piramal's Ajay Piramal, Godrej's Adi Godrej, Mahindra and Mahindra's Anand Mahindra, Bajaj Group's Rahul Bajaj, Hero Enterprise's Sunil Munjal and Sun Pharma's Dilip Sanghvi at the Taj Palace in Colaba.

While addressing CEOs at a conference, the Israeli PM added that the economic added value has been provided by the private sector. 

"India understands the value of competition. This is best highlighted from the country's victory in the 1983 cricket World Cup when India went in as underdogs," he said.

Stressing on the Indo-Israeli partnership, Natenyahu added that he was proud to make an impact on a big nation such as India. "Young Indians are adding so much value and feedback," he said citing several examples of young Indian entrepreneurs and their unique inventions. Read the story of a 14-year-old's invention here

"We ave to build an economy that is profitable and innovative. We saw a great decline in 2003, with our major bank about to fall. We worked hard to revive the market and succeeded through policies that focused on simple taxation policies. PM Modi is aware of this. Today, we have flooded the private market and are ready to take risks," he added.

Inviting Indians to come to Israel and partner with them, Netanyahu added that Israel was a business-friendly economy. "When we remove the jungle of bureaucracy, it becomes easy to do business. PM Modi is doing the same thing in India. It is important to build value and create innovation without interference," he added.

Netanyahu later met Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

While speaking to the CEO's PM Netanyahu said that the future belongs to those who innovate. "Our job is to encourage you to innovate," he said, stressing on his friendship with PM Narendra Modi. "Partnership between Israel and India doing wonders," he added.

“Future belongs to those who innovate; innovation doesn't happen by itself, it has to be encourage,” he said.

He is later scheduled to pay tributes to the Mumbai terror attack victims and attend a 'Shalom Bollywood' event among other engagements.