PM Modi, Netanyahu vow to strengthen cooperation in dealing with coronavirus

Jerusalem: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday discussed with his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu the potential areas in which the two countries can expand cooperation in the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, including research and development efforts in the field of vaccines.

During their telephonic conversation, Modi also congratulated Netanyahu on assuming the prime ministerial office for a record fifth time.

"Had an excellent conversation with my friend PM @netanyahu about how India-Israel can collaborate in the post-COVID world," Modi tweeted.


"India-Israel partnership will grow ever stronger in the days to come," he said.

An official statement later said the leaders discussed the potential areas in which India and Israel could expand their cooperation in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, including research and development efforts in the fields of vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics.

They agreed to maintain the ongoing exchanges between expert teams of both countries and also concurred that the fruits of such collaboration should be made available for the wider benefit of humanity.

They reviewed other important topics on the bilateral agenda and agreed that the post-COVID world would create further avenues for mutually beneficial partnerships in many areas.

"In particular, they assessed tremendous scope for expanding the already robust India-Israel collaboration in areas like health technology, agricultural innovation, defence-cooperation and information technology," the statement said.

Both leaders agreed to remain in regular touch to share assessments and consult each other on the emerging opportunities and challenges in the changing global scenario.