Updated July 28th, 2020 at 07:39 IST

Israel, India transformed pandemic into opportunity to enhance relations, says Envoy

India and Israel have successfully transformed the global pandemic into an opportunity to assist one another and further enhance their relations, says Envoy.

World News
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As Israeli delegation left for India to test the four coronavirus diagnosis solutions with AIIMS, Israel envoy for Asia-Pacific Gilad Cohen reportedly said that both the countries have successfully transformed the global pandemic into an opportunity to assist one another and further enhance their relations. The delegation led by Directorate of Defense Research and Development (DDR&D) in Israeli Ministry of Defense, as well as Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Health, will complete a series of tests to determine the effectiveness of several Israeli technologies developed for the rapid diagnosis of COVID-19.

As both the countries continue to fight the deadly coronavirus pandemic, Cohen, in an opinion article in an Israeli media outlet, said Israel went out of its way to approve the export and transfer of the ventilators to India. He added that Israel’s gesture was a welcome ‘thank you’ to India, which sent medicines and other essential diagnostic equipment in severe global shortage.

Further, Cohen said, “In this way, Israel and India successfully transformed this unprecedented global pandemic into an opportunity to assist one another and further enhance their relations”.

READ: Israeli Delegation Enroute India With 4 Cutting-edge Covid Solutions; Will Test Them Out

One of Israel’s ‘significant’ friend

In the article, Cohen noted that the scope of mutual trade between the two countries has grown from approximately 200 million USD in 1992 to nearly four billion USD in 2018. He even said that India has become one of Israel’s significant friendships in the Asian region. Further, Cohen recalled Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s 2018 visit to India.

Cohen said, “In his last visit to India in January 2018, Prime Minister Netanyahu escorted Prime Minister Narendra Modi to his home state of Gujarat. In an exceptionally moving moment, hundreds of farmers rushed to meet them and share their personal stories. One after another, they told of how their fields' crop yields had improved by hundreds of per cent following their training at Israel's Excellence Centers”.

He added, "Under the leadership of Narendra Modi, India is assuming its role as a regional and world power, and our diplomacy has succeeded in showing India the many advantages that can come from strengthening its ties with Israel”.

READ: Israeli Research Delegation Leaves For India, Will Work On COVID-19 Testing Technologies

Rapid diagnosis tech

Meanwhile, the special team of Israeli scientists will be conducting the final stages of testing of advanced technologies for the rapid diagnosis of the new coronavirus disease with their Indian counterparts. Israeli and Indian teams will collect tens of thousands of samples in just ten days, and analyze them using computer systems based on artificial intelligence. All tests will be validated using the confirmatory RT PCR tests. For this purpose, the Centre has designated a team of around 100 professionals, as well as a team dedicated to the construction of testing sites that will be operated jointly by the Israeli and Indian delegations.