INTERNATIONAL DESK: As India and Israel mark 30 years of full diplomatic relations, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett is set to pay his first official visit to India in the first week of April.

As per the official confirmation provided by the Ministry of External Affairs today, the Israeli leader is scheduled to visit India from April 3 to April 5 at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Earlier on Sunday, Bennett had taken to Twitter to express his happiness over the upcoming visit. Prime Minister Modi, he added, had “restarted relations between India and Israel. The two leaders had last met on the sidelines of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow last October. They had also had a telephonic conversation on August 16.

I am delighted to pay my first official visit to India at the invitation of my friend, Prime Minister Modi, and together we will continue leading the way for our countries’ relations,” the Israel PM’s official Twitter handle quoted him as saying.

According to the Ministry of External Affairs, the visit is expected to further strengthen bilateral cooperation in diverse areas including agriculture, water, trade, education and science and technology. According to a press note released by the Israel government, Bennett is slated to meet with Modi and other senior government officials, as well as visit the Jewish community in the country.

India and Israel elevated their bilateral relationship to a strategic partnership during the historic visit of Prime Minister Modi to Israel in July 2017. Since then, the two countries have continued to deepen their strategic partnership, with a focus on innovation and research as two knowledge-based economies,” the MEA said in its statement. (Times Now)