Head of Israel’s Mashav visits India to deepen partnership in agriculture & water

New Delhi: The head of Israel’s MASHAV – the Agency for International Development Cooperation under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was in India to further strengthen Israel-India strategic partnership and development cooperation in the fields of agriculture and water. She toured Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan and held meetings with top government officials during the visit.
Ambassador Eynat Shlein, Head of MASHAV, who concluded an official visit to India from June 10 to June 16, said: “India is a strong, strategic partner of Israel. The two most significant pillars of our growing relations are cooperation in agriculture and water, which was the focus during my visit to India. These two fields are so important that out of the six resident experts that Mashav posted around the world, two are based in India.”She added, “Currently we have 29 fully-active Indo-Israeli Centers of Excellence in different parts of India, which are benefiting millions of Indian farmers on a daily basis. Thirteen more such centers are in the pipeline. Gradually these centers will be expanded into Villages of Excellence in partnership with local state governments, which will further prove beneficial for larger populations.”

During her tour to Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, Ambassador Shlein met with senior government officials, local farmers and also visited Indo-Israeli Centers of Excellence that have been established under the framework of Indo-Israel Agricultural Project (IIAP).
She held a bilateral meeting with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. Both sides had an extensive discussion about enhancing the existing cooperation and future joint projects in water management and agriculture, an Israeli embassy press release said.
One of the main highlights of this visit was the signing of a joint declaration between the State of Israel and the Irrigation and Water Resources Department, Government of Haryana, in the field of integrated water resources management and capacity building. As part of this joint declaration, MASHAV will share knowledge, capacity building and Israeli technologies for the development of Haryana in the water management sector.
During the visit, Ambassador Shlein also met with senior leaders from the Department of Agriculture & Horticulture, Government of Rajasthan.
In Delhi, she held discussions with Economic Relations officials at the Ministry of External Affairs about continuing dialogues between both nations on development cooperation. She also visited the office of National Mission for Clean Ganga, Ministry of Jal Shakti to discuss various areas of cooperation in the water sector.
A ‘Shalom Club Meet’ was organized, where Ambassador Shlein shared her vision with MASHAV alumni from India. These alumni have received training in Israel in various courses such as water, agriculture, health, women empowerment and more. During the meeting, the alumni exchanged ideas and shared their experiences in Israel. (UNI)

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