Benjamin Netanyahu gifts Indian soldiers' photo to PM Narendra Modi

JERUSALEM: Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has gifted Prime Minister Narendra Modi a photo that depicts Indian soldiers leading a British military column to liberate Jerusalem.

Netanyahu gifted PM Modi the photo during a private dinner that he hosted yesterday for the Indian premier at his residence Beit Aghion in Jerusalem with his wife.

"While hosting PM @narendramodi yesterday evening, PM @netanyahu gifted PM Modi a photo," the Prime Minister's Office tweeted.

"The photo depicts Indian soldiers leading a British military column to liberate Jerusalem (December 11, 1917)," it said.

The photo depicts Indian soldiers leading a British military column to librate Jerusalem (December 11, 1917). pic.twitter.com/cgnZS590Iq

— PMO India (@PMOIndia) July 5, 2017

Modi, who arrived in Tel Aviv yesterday for a three-day visit, presented the replicas of two sets of relics from Kerala, regarded as key artifacts of the long Jewish history in India.

They comprise two different sets of copper plates that are believed to have been inscribed in 9-10th Century, the PMO had tweeted.

The first set of copper plates is a cherished relic for the Cochin Jews in India. It is regarded as a charter describing the grant of hereditary royal privileges and prerogatives by the Hindu King, Cheraman Perumal (often identified as Bhaskara Ravi Varma), to the Jewish leader Joseph Rabban.

The second set of copper plates is believed to be the earliest documentation of the history of Jewish trade with India.

These plates describe the grant of land and tax privileges by the local Hindu ruler to a church.