Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday began his six-day visit to India. Prime Minister Narendra Modi received him at Delhi airport.
“Thank you to my good friend, Indian PM Narendra Modi, who surprised me with a personal welcome at the airport upon my arrival in India,” Netanyahu said on Twitter. “Together we will bring the relations between our countries to new heights!”
The two leaders are expected to discuss trade and defence ties as well as the Israel-Palestine relationship, NDTV reported. The Israeli prime minister will also meet President Ram Nath Kovind.
Netanyahu will also tour Ahmedabad, Mumbai and Agra.
Soon after his arrival on Sunday, Netanyahu and Modi attended a ceremony at the Teen Murti Memorial to rename it Teen Murti Haifa Chowk. The memorial was dedicated to India-Israel relations. The decision to rename the iconic landmark was taken during Modi’s visit to Israel in July 2017.
The chowk, a war memorial, has three life-size bronze statues representing the Hyderabad, Jodhpur and Mysore Lancers, who won the Battle of Haifa for the 15 Imperial Service Cavalry Brigade during World War I.
On September 23, 1918, Indian soldiers attacked the joint Ottoman, German and Austro-Hungarian forces that had fortified the Israeli port city of Haifa, The Hindu reported. The Indian soldiers captured Haifa and cleared a crucial route for the Allied powers (Russia, France, United Kingdom and Italy), but 44 of them were killed in the battle.
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