PM Modi praises Netanyahu for wearing Indian attire, strengthening India-Israel relations

Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who surprised him by wearing Indian traditional attire ahead of a joint dinner on Wednesday. Responding to this gesture, PM Modi said, “Truly wonderful! Your love for Indian textiles shows your respect for the rich culture and traditions of our country.”

Netanyahu wrote about this on X, “Before our joint dinner, I surprised Prime Minister Modi and wore Indian traditional clothes.” PM Modi expressed his gratitude on this.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was awarded the “Medal of the Knesset” from the Israeli Parliament (Knesset). He became the first person to receive this honour. During the felicitation, PM Modi dedicated the medal to the “enduring friendship and shared democratic traditions between the two countries”.

After PM Modi’s speech, he received applause from the Knesset members and took a selfie with PM Modi. PM Modi’s speech received a standing ovation and thunderous applause for his words. In his speech, PM Modi highly appreciated Israel’s tenacity, courage and achievements in India.

He said, “There is a link between our two countries going back more than two thousand years. India is mentioned as ‘Hodu’ in the book ‘Esther’. There is mention of trade with India in ancient times in the Talmud.”

PM Modi also said that the ongoing Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between India and Israel will open up immense possibilities for bilateral trade. During this time, he described the defense cooperation between the two countries as important and said, “A strong defense partnership between trusted partners like India and Israel is very important.”

The Prime Minister also pointed out that India has been the fastest growing large economy in the world for the last few years and will soon join the top three economies of the world. He described Israel as a leading force in innovation and technology, which provides a natural foundation for partnership between the two countries.

“We are committed to expanding trade, strengthening investment and promoting joint infrastructure development. The bilateral investment treaty signed last year will provide confidence and stability to our traders,” he said.