In advance of the Indian Prime Minister’s visit to Israel expected soon, the first official Parliamentary delegation from India, led by Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs and Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Shri S.S Ahluwalia, visited Israel on 4-5 June, 2017. Apart from Shri Ahluwalia, 10 MPs representing 9 political parties from both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, were part of the delegation.

In their meeting with Mr. Yuli Edelstein, the Speaker of the Israeli Parliament (Knesset) on June 4, views were exchanged on the vital role of Parliament in building relations between countries, especially in vibrant democracies like India and Israel. MOS Ahluwalia and Speaker Edelstein agreed on the need for countries to work together to combat the menace of terrorism, which was afflicting countries across the world. MOS Ahluwalia also invited Speaker Edelstein to visit India. The delegation was also briefed on bilateral relations by the Political Director of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs on June 4.

Following the delegation’s visit to Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Jerusalem, Minister Ahluwalia wrote that “the museum is a “living symbol of forbearance and a warning to future generations that such instances should never make their way into human history”.

The delegation had a number of field visits on June 5 to familiarise themselves with some of the technologies that have made Israel famous in the world. These included a visit to the autonomous car technology company “Mobileye” which was recently bought by Intel for more than $15 billion. Israel has now become the center for R&D in the area of autonomous car technology. The delegation also saw the latest water solutions for precision farming at the Kibbutz Naandan Jain, and also visited Israel’s largest water desalination plant at Sorek, south of Tel Aviv. The delegation also witnessed a plenary session of the Knesset and had a useful exchange with a few other members of the Knesset on June 5.