SPEECH
BY SHRI K. R. NARAYANAN, PRESIDENT OF INDIA, WHILE RECEIVING THE CREDENTIALS
FROM MR. DAVID APHEK, AMBASSADOR-DESIGNATE OF THE STATE OF ISRAEL
NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 19, 2000
Excellency,
It gives
me great pleasure to accept your Credentials as the Ambassador Extraordinary
and Plenipotentiary of the State of Israel to India. I would like to thank
you for conveying the good wishes of His Excellency President Moshe Katsav,
which I warmly reciprocate. I also take this opportunity to convey, through
you, the greetings of the Government and people of India to the Government
and people of Israel, and my good wishes to His Excellency President Moshe
Katsav for his personal well being and good health.
Both India
and Israel are ancient civilisations and modern and vibrant democracies.
We have always been open societies ready to welcome ideas and absorb them
into our own ethos. We are proud that many Jewish communities from the
West Asian region have made India their home and contributed to our society.
Many of them rose to become prominent entrepreneurs and businessmen. We
are happy that the Indian Jewish community in Israel is playing its part
in contributing to their cSountry’s progress and prosperity. It is in this
spirit of goodwill and long historical connection that we look forward
to pooling the potential talents of both our peoples to our mutual benefit.
Excellency,
as we enter this millenium, the international community is engaged in
the search for peace and understanding among the peoples and nations of
the world.
India’s
search for peace and security also extends to West Asia, the Middle East,
of which Israel is a part. India’s historical interaction with this region
has been multi-dimensional. It continues to be of political, economic
and strategic importance to us. This provides the underpinning for India’s
support to the Middle East Peace Process, and our readiness to contribute
to its promotion and successful conclusion. The moorings of our approach
have remained secure in the parameters accepted by all the parties at
the Madrid Peace Conference, including the relevant Security Council resolutions
aimed at a just, comprehensive and lasting peace, enabling all States
in the region to co-exist peacefully within secure and internationally
recognised boundaries. We trust that within this framework all parties
would continue to strive further to build upon the agreements and understandings
already achieved. We feel that dialogue and peace are indispensable to
achieve a solution.
We in India
greatly value our ties with Israel and appreciate that Israel has been
forthcoming in meeting our requirements. Our trade has registered a robust
growth. We in India hold in admiration the immense progress that the people
of Israel have made in various fields, especially in agriculture, irrigation
and science & technology. There exists enormous potential for enhancing
the depth and content of our interaction in these areas as well as in
the sphere of defence co-operation. The liberalisation process launched
by India has opened up fresh opportunities to further augment our economic
and commercial cooperation and it should be our endeavour to fully exploit
this potential. In this context, we are happy that of late, significant
high level exchange of visits have taken place between our countries.
Excellency,
with your rich and varied experience, you will find India a fertile ground
for all ideas for strengthening bilateral relations between our two countries.
In this task, I assure you the fullest cooperation of my Government. I
wish you all success and a productive and pleasant tenure in India.
Thank you
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