PM Narendra Modi, Benjamin Netanyahu talk trade, ties

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was accorded a traditional Gujarati welcome and greeted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he alighted at Ahmedabad airport on Wednesday morning. The visit focused purely on sharing technology and innovation and the Prime Minister's home state played a catalytic role.

From the airport, the two premiers, and Israel's First Lady Sara, set off on an 8 km-long route to Sabarmati Ashram which was punctuated by dance and musical performances depicting the identity of each Indian state.

At Sabarmati Ashram, Prime Minister Modi took on the role of a guide and explained the importance of the place in India's struggle for freedom from British rule. Though they just missed Uttarayana, the Netanyahus still got a taste of kite-flying on the Sabarmati Riverfront — a symbol of the city's development.

In the afternoon, the two leaders addressed young entrepreneurs at Deo Dholera after dedicating International Centre for Entrepreneurship and Technology (iCreate), a public-private partnership (PPP) venture set up to nurture entrepreneurs by providing them funds, space, mentors and other facilities.

One of the most anticipated moments of the visit was when Netanyahu gifted a Gal-Mobile Jeep to the state and dedicated it to the armed forces.

The mobile water desalination and purification vehicle will be stationed at the BSF camp near the international border with Pakistan at Suigam village in Banaskantha district.

The two leaders then inaugurated the Centre of Excellence for Protected Cultivation and Precision Farming on Vegetables in Vadrad village, Sabarkantha district.

The centre will impart training to farmers on technological support and also will develop quality saplings for vegetable farming. Modi and Netanyahu also inaugurated the Centre of Excellence for Agriculture of Dates in Kutch, through remote technology, before leaving for Mumbai in the evening.