January 18, 2018 — New Delhi, India
An AJC delegation is visiting New Delhi, coinciding with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's six-day visit to India, where he has been warmly received by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Indian public in Agra, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, and New Delhi.
“This week's visit by Prime Minister Netanyahu, on the heels of Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Israel last summer – the first ever by an Indian prime minister – showcases not only the visible warmth between the two leaders but the convergence of national interests in so many sectors between these sister democracies,” said Jason Isaacson, AJC Associate Executive Director for Policy. “There has been wall-to-wall media coverage, Israeli flags flying on the major thoroughfares of New Delhi, and a genuine sense of excitement about the opportunities that lie ahead for the two nations."
Other members of the AJC delegation include AJC Asia Pacific (API) Director Shira Loewenberg, API Assistant Director Nissim Reuben and API India Representative Arjun Hardas. Isaacson was interviewed by local TV and print media about the Netanyahu visit.
Isaacson, a frequent visitor to India for the last 25 years, addressed a conference on the U.S.-India-Israel Tech Triangle. Other speakers included former Indian Ambassador to Israel and to the United States Arun Kumar Singh. Isaacson also spoke at an Ambassador Raminder Jassal Memorial luncheon on the trilateral strategic relationship, attended by Israelis, Americans, and Indian-Americans, including Nisha Biswal, President of the U.S.-India Business Council, and Dr. Nadia Schadlow, Deputy Assistant to President Trump for National Security Strategy.
The AJC delegation, together with leaders from the Indian-American diaspora, met with India President Ram Nath Kovind at Rashtrapati Bhavan (Presidential House).
On the sidelines of the Netanyahu-Modi summit, the AJC delegation has engaged Indian officials and civil society partners in a series of meetings. Topics of discussion include: Israel's and India's potential for growth in the agriculture, water, hi-tech, R&D and security sectors; regional political and strategic challenges confronting India and Israel, and the benefits of close bilateral coordination and trilateral partnership with the United States; and the ongoing friendship and cooperation between the American Jewish and Indian American communities.
The delegation also participated in the Raisina Dialogue, an annual strategic affairs conference that was keynoted by Prime Minister Netanyahu.
AJC's Asia Pacific Institute has taken dozens of Indian and Indian American thought leaders to Israel on Project Interchange, an AJC educational institute, and regularly visits New Delhi for high-level meetings.
