Rajnath Singh to attend Interpol meet, to visit Israel too

[INDIAPOSITIVE]

NEW DELHI: Home Minister Rajnath Singh will represent India at Interpol's General Assembly beginning November 3 in Monaco where he is expected to seek the support for cases having international ramifications, including those related to terror.


Singh will be accompanied by a delegation of senior officers including CBI director Ranjit Sinha, Delhi Police Commissioner B S Bassi besides others, official sources said.

India may seek a permanent berth in Interpol's General Secretariat as despite being one of the oldest members, it does not have a senior representative, sources said.


On his return, the Home Minister will travel to Israel for a bilateral visit during which a number of agreements on security cooperation between the two countries are expected to be signed.

The Home Minister is likely to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during the visit.


Singh's tour comes more than a month after the meeting between Netanyahu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New York.

During that meeting, Netanyahu had said "sky is the limit" in terms of prospects of cooperation between the two countries, seeking "greater and greater" ties with India.


Netanyahu was among the first global leaders to call Modi to congratulate him over his victory in Lok Sabha polls.

Israel's National Security Adviser Joseph Cohen had met Rajnath Singh and his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval earlier this month.

It will be the first visit of an Indian Home Minister to Israel since June 2000 when L K Advani visited Tel Aviv which marked an upswing in bilateral cooperation.

Rajnath Singh to attend Interpol meet; to visit Israel too - The Economic Times

 

[Lord ZeN]

We need to strengthen our relationship with Tel Aviv ..

 

[Abingdonboy]

Hopefully Modi will make it to Tel Aviv during his time in office and would be nice to see an Israeli PM in India too....

 

[nik22]

Hopefully Modi will make it to Tel Aviv during his time in office and would be nice to see an Israeli PM in India too....

May be in his second term. India and Govt is not ready for that and will not be in next 5 years.

 

[Abingdonboy]

May be in his second term. India and Govt is not ready for that and will not be in next 5 years.

I too think it won't happen anytime soon.

 

[Indo-guy]

Rajnath Singh in Jerusalem today, Israel says visit 'very significant' - The Times of India

JERUSALEM: India's security ties with Israel, including cooperation in counterterrorism, are expected to receive a major fillip during home minister Rajnath Singh's visit here.

Rajnath Singh was scheduled to arrive here on Wednesday morning but had to reschedule his plans after his flight from Monaco was cancelled due to stormy weather. The minister was in Monaco to attend Interpol's general assembly.

Despite the unexpected change in plans, the Israeli government has gone out of the way to accommodate the Indian home minister and the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office was quick to reschedule his meeting with the premier for Thursday.

"India is a very important ally for us and we view the home minister's visit as very significant. We are looking forward to fruitful discussions that will strengthen cooperation between the two countries", a senior government source told PTI.



Rajanth Singh was scheduled to meet Israeli President ReuvenRivlin, Premier Netanyahu and defence minister Moshe Ya'alon on Wednesday in a rare gesture reserved for leaders from most friendly or strategic countries.

It will be the first visit of an Indian home minister to Israel since June 2000 when LK Advani visited Jerusalem, marking an upsurge in bilateral cooperation.

The home minister's visit comes close on the heels of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's meeting with Netanyahu on the sidelines of the UN general assembly in New York.

During that meeting, Netanyahu had said that "sky is the limit" in terms of prospects of cooperation between the two countries, seeking "greater and greater" ties with India.



Netanyahu was among the first global leaders to call Narendra Modi to congratulate him on his victory in the general election.

Singh will also be meeting Israel's minister of public security, Yitzhak Aharonovich, and national security adviser, Yossi Cohen, who would accompany him on a helicopter tour of bordering areas.

India and Israel have signed three agreements related to homeland security which covers important areas such as cooperation in preventing organised crime, human trafficking, cyber crimes, money laundering, counterterrorism and fight against spread of fake currency notes.

India and Israel will also render mutual legal assistance in criminal matters and have committed to the protection of classified material and information.

The joint steering committee on homeland security set up to coordinate and direct cooperation between the two sides met in September for its first deliberations.

Cohen last month met Rajnath Singh, his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval, and senior diplomats at the ministry of external affairs in New Delhi to discuss "common challenges" faced by the two countries and their solutions, emphasising his country's "willingness to expand cooperation in all fields and in any level".

India is Israel's largest purchaser of defence equipment and the Jewish state is the second largest supplier of arms and armaments to New Delhi, next only to Russia.

Singh will try to impress upon Israeli defence industries to take advantage of the new policies to manufacture in India as per Modi's 'Make in India" initiative and assure Israeli manufacturers of a simple regulatory framework to obtain clearances within a given time frame.

BJP's elevation to power has generated a lot of enthusiasm here, amid a flurry of activities, raising hopes that relations would reach a "new high" as seen during the previous NDA government led by Atal Behari Vajpayee.

I too think it won't happen anytime soon.

who knows ? It may happen in very the first term itself .
the fact that Indian home minister is visiting Israel after decade long gap shows Modi governments commitments .
Modi government does not suffer from need for symbolic gestures to mollycoddle minorities by keeping Israel at arms length unlike MMS government . Modi has surprised us in many ways with his rather unconventional and bold steps as far as his foreign policy initiatives are concerned.

But frankly speaking Indo-Israeli ties are far stronger to be hinged upon such solitary symbolic photo-ops . The fact that Indo-Israeli ties have flourished despite Indian stance and insistence on Palestine state is a testimonial of robust nature of these ties.