Israel and India have been cooperating and working together even before our official relationship began in 1992. So we can surely say that for over 30 years, the two nations have been strengthening their bilateral ties and advancing their mutual interests in multiple sectors, from water and agriculture to mobility and medicine, to security and defense. The strategic partnership between Israel and India points to our close relationship that is based on mutual respect and innovation; it also provides us with a roadmap and base for future endeavors.
Our two countries share similar values and outlooks on moving forward and on innovation. Israel and India both find stability and strength in our roots, our values, and our cultures. Both peoples have a rich history going back thousands of years and have faced harsh challenges and have overcome them.
Both countries have proven time and again that we are flexible, adaptable, and always changing. We place our emphasis on family, on education, and on our younger generation.
These similarities and these bonds make us the ideal partners for cooperation that is rapidly expanding across a multitude of fronts, from a people-to-people level, to business, agriculture, defense, water, and combating climate change. These are issues that are important and relevant to both our countries, but also to the world today.
Boosting the Startup Ecosystem
One of the most notable features of this alliance and one of the main tools we use to tackle the issues that concern our two nations, our respective regions, and the world is nurturing the startup ecosystems in Israel and India.
The young and young-at-heart entrepreneurs that we are boosting are the ones coming up with solutions to the problems we face. We just recently brought to southern India Israeli start-ups in the field of smart and green mobility.
We introduced companies such as Neurocognition Lab that assist in the driver experience and can mitigate possible car accidents, companies such as Redler Technologies and EVR Motors that help make electric car engines lighter and more efficient, more established companies such as Optibus that help manage public transportation fleets to ensure that they are safer as well as more fuel efficient.
In this field, we must also mention that India’s Ola Electric is one of the strategic investors in the Israeli start-up Storedot, which is working on making EV batteries charge faster and thus helping to boost the consumers’ demand for EV’s and ensuring a cleaner future for us through increased use of electric vehicles.
Working together to promote cleaner and more effective private and public transportation is just one of the ways we work together for a greener future.
The Consulate General of Israel to South India works to ensure regular exchanges of startup delegations as well as organizing relevant meet-ups between the ecosystems in both countries, business and investor meetings, and of course meetings with relevant position holders in the State Governments. We do our part to ensure that the dialogue, cooperation, and joint efforts continue and grow. You will be able to meet a sizable Israeli delegation at the upcoming Bangalore Tech Summit, and we are very proud to continue our cooperation in this outstanding international exhibition.
Sustainability: Water and Solar Initiatives
Conferences, exhibitions, and meet-ups are a big part of what the Israeli representatives in India, and specifically the Consulate to South India, does; but the work on sustainability, combating climate change, and water management is something that is done daily. Netafim, one of the leading drip irrigation and fertigation companies in the world, was started in Israel and still uses Israeli made products and technologies.
It has been present in India for decades. And throughout the passing years, additional Israeli companies have joined forces with Indian counterparts and partners. Right here in Bengaluru, this past June, a significant collaboration was initiated between BBMP and the Israeli company Ayala for the K100 project. Ayala uses natural biological systems, basically varied plant types, for the treatment of wastewater and watershed rehabilitation. An innovative use of what is found in nature to help solve manmade pollution and damage.
We are also in the process of setting up a Center of Water Technology (CoWT) at IIT Madras. During our Foreign Minister’s visit to India, in May of this year, a Letter of Intent was signed to begin the process for the center that will help bring Israeli and Indian innovation together to find solutions for pressing and urgent water issues in both our countries and the world.
Medical Innovations for a Healthier Future
The fields of sustainability, water conservation and management, and a greener future may head our priority lists, but Israel and India also work together in the health field. To find cures for pandemics, for example, one needs to look at the cooperation between 101 Therapeutics and CSIR-IICT, Hyderabad, that is set to pave the way for groundbreaking treatment for COVID-19.
We cooperate to treat cancer; as we can see at the Kovai Medical Center and Hospital in Coimbatore (KMCH), that is working with the Israeli company IceCure Medical Cryoablation System for the treatment of breast cancer. We work together on other diseases that affect people worldwide; just as the Royal Care Super Specialty Hospital in Tamil Nadu is doing with the MRgFUS machine that promises to revolutionize the treatment of essential tremors and Parkinson’s.
The possibilities for cooperation between our two nations and our peoples are enormous; we are already working together on land, in the sea, and in space. But the potential is even greater—we can and should keep working together, each side bringing its expertise and utilizing the other’s strengths to offer Israel, India, and the world innovative and lasting solutions for our current challenges, especially climate change and environmental issues.
I am honored and look forward to my role in this great relationship, and I take this opportunity to wish India a Happy Independence Day. Jai Hind, Jai Israel.
Consul General of Israel to South India, Bengaluru
