Mumbai, Jan 18 (PTI) Israel Prime Minister BenjaminNetanyahu today met top leadership of India Inc for a powerbreakfast, the first of his numerous assignments for the dayas he wraps up his four-day India visit.
Netanyahu interacted with business leaders at the iconicTaj hotel overlooking the Arabia Sea. This will be followed byhis address to the India-Israel Business Summit, also at thesame venue.
Business leaders who were present at the breakfastincluded Ajay Piramal, Rahul Bajaj, Adi Godrej, Harsh Goenka,Anand Mahindra, Dilip Shanghvi, Ashok Hinduja, Atul Punj andChanda Kochhar.
In the first visit by an Israeli Prime Minister to thefinancial capital of India, Netanyahu will lay a wreath at thememorial for the victims of the 26/11 terror attacks.
Netanyahu will then proceed to the nearby Nariman House,where he will meet 11-year-old Moshe Holtzberg. Moshe's fatherRabbi Gavriel Holtzberg and mother Rivka were killed at theNariman House during the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.
The Jewish couple ran a cultural and outreach centre forthe Chabad-Lubavitch movement at the Nariman House in southMumbai's Colaba area.
Netanyahu will later meet around 25 to 30 members ofthe Jewish community at the Taj hotel.
There are about 5,000 members of the Jewish communityliving in India, but most of them call Mumbai their home. Thecity earlier had a sizable Jewish population, but around33,000 Jews migrated when Israel was created.
Mumbai has three distinct Jewish communities -- BeneIsrael Jews, Baghdadi Jews and the Malabar Jews. For them, thevisit by the Israeli prime minister is about reconnecting withold friends and strengthening old bonds.
Netanyahu will cap his hectic schedule by attendingthe 'Shalom Bollywood' event, in which he will invite leadingactors, directors, and producers in the Indian cinema industryto come to Israel to shoot movies and collaborate with theIsraeli film and television industry.
Netanyahu is accompanied by a 130-member businessdelegation representing 102 companies, with a focus on theagriculture, defence and cyber security sectors.
Till now, the visit has seen agreements and comments oninnovation, strengthening the start-up innovation system,information technology, defence, electric vehicles andagriculture sectors.
The bilateral trade between the countries increased toUSD 5 billion in 2016-17 from USD 4.91 billion in the previousfiscal.
In the first leg of the visit in New Delhi, PrimeMinister Narendra Modi had invited Israeli companies to investin the country, saying India presents vast opportunities.
India has received total FDI of USD 130 million fromIsrael during April 2000 to September 2017 period.
Netanyahu will leave for Israel in early hours tomorrow.
PTI AA VTMR.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.