Mumbai, Jan 18 (PTI) Israeli Prime Minister BenjaminNetanyahu today termed his country's partnership with India asone "made in heaven", which rests on shared values of love forhumanity, democracy and freedom.
Addressing the India-Israel Business Summit here,Netanyahu mentioned the "deep personal friendship" he shareswith his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi, adding that thewarmth goes deeper, right up to the common man.
On the last leg of his four-day India visit, which hedescribed as extraordinary, Netanyahu said there is a deep andabiding respect for India, it's people and culture.
"We are the two oldest cultures on earth. We aredemocracies, we share our love for freedom, and we share ourlove for humanity. We are truly your partners. This is apartnership made in heaven," Netanyahu said, while appealingto Indian businesses to invest in Israel.
Netanyahu said there is a similarity between how hechanged the landscape in Israel after inheriting an economywith trouble on multiple fronts, and the way Prime MinisterModi is working.
"When I spoke to Prime Minister Modi, I saw he was doingexactly that (what I did). He is up to the task, heunderstands innovation, the need to simplify," the Israel PMsaid.
Curtailing excessive regulations, which are "barriers tocompetition", and empowering private enterprise, is the keyfor instant growth, Netanyahu said, adding that he hadundertaken these steps.
The private sector does the heavy lifting in the economyand the only way to empower it is through "lower, simple andeasy taxes", he said.
Netanyahu said his administration's measures have ensuredIsarel climbing 12 spots to be 15th on the World Bank'scompetitive index rankings.
Countries like the US, Singapore and Switzerland, whichout-rank Israel in the rankings, make him "lose sleep" and notthe ones like Syria, Netanyahu said.
Stating that his country aims to break into the top tenin terms of competitiveness globally, Netanyahu said he isputting those ahead of it "on watch" and added "Israel is ontheir tail".
Netanyahu reiterated the importance of innovation, asubject he touched during his 'power breakfast' meet withselect chief executives of Indian companies, and said it isimportant for businesses to innovate without any hindrance.
Israelis collaborate with Indians in California to makeSilicon Valley a hub of innovation, Netanyahu said.
"We have to bring the talents of Indians and Israelistogether," Netanyahu said, referring to efforts on getting adirect flight link between India and Israel as an effort inthis direction.
Speaking about his visit to the 'iCreate' innovation hubin Ahmedabad yesterday, Netanyahu said he felt like being inIsrael, watching the work at the hub. He mentioned dronedevelopment by a 14-year-old boy, which he told Modi, can beturned into a mega business in the future.
Netanyahu said even though Israel has committed to have30 centres helping the farm sector, it would like to create anetwork of 1,000 agents which will spread the know-how forbetter yields.
"Winning does not have to be exclusive. India and Israelare winning by a partnership which is reaching unprecedentedheights. This is just the beginning," he said.
"This is the beginning of a wonderful, ancient friendshipand the possibilities are boundless," he said. PTI AA VTSA.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.