Israel is set to work with Bihar

Cooperation between India & Isreal is growing in various fields as medicine, technologies, humanities, arts and social sciences, agriculture & allied science. This is a good signal of cooperation in the view of Indo-Isreal relation. As per the news article (here) India and Israel signed Memorandum of understanding (MoU) on 1^st August 2012, for academic research collaboration in the areas of medicine, technologies, humanities, arts and, social sciences. This MoU was signed in this regard between the University Grants Commission and Israel Science Foundation for launching a three-year 'India-Israel Joint Research Program' which would bring together scientists and researchers from two countries to carry forward academic research in these areas.

As per the new article reported (here) and (here), Israel looks forward to increasing cooperation with Bihar in fields like agriculture, solar energy, water harnessing and health insurance. The Ambassador of Israel, Alon Ushpiz (image here) said on 22^nd August, 2012 after an hour-long meeting with the chief minister of Bihar, Nitish Kumar (image here) that “cooperation would be increased in agriculture sector with thrust on the promotion of horticulture, dairy, fishery besides green vegetables and water area”. He also said that “the cooperation in the energy sector between Bihar and Israel would also be extended, particularly in the field of solar energy”.

Earlier, interacting with the members of the Asian Development Research Institute (ADRI), he inquired about different aspects of Bihar in order to finalize work programs related to agriculture sector. "Currently, we have work plans in eight states of India, Bihar is one of them," he said, adding, "Two horticulture-related projects are already in the pipeline, one at Nalanda and other at Vaishali".

The Ambassador discussed the status of the dairy industry, pisciculture and aquaculture in the state, whether crops are grown in open fields or green houses, availability of land, production and marketing. He said, "We have certain technologies which we can use here to increase productivity".

Ushpiz said, "Bihar is an integral part of our plans in agriculture and we will try to go the extra bit for the state." He asked where his country could channelize its energies to help Bihar.

Prabhat P Ghosh, director, ADRI, said, "Bihar is one of the most fertile regions of the country as it falls in the Indo- Gangetic plains. However, our potential has not been fully utilized, as technology is not very advanced. Now, the development of agriculture is a priority in Bihar. We have an agriculture cabinet that includes 17 departments and is chaired by the chief minister himself".

Throwing light on Indo-Israeli relations, Ushpiz said, "We are celebrating the 20th anniversary of our rich and historic relations (since the opening of Israeli embassy in India), which is not only based on values but on sharing. When we had come here in 1992, the volume of trade between Israel and India was $180 million in 1992. In 2011, it was about $5 billion. We are expecting the free trade agreement is likely to be signed and then the volume of trade can go up to $10-15 billion," Israel's Ambassador Alon Ushpiz said. For the information of readers Indo-Israel Free Trade Agreement is likely to be completed by second quarter of 2013. The fifth round of meeting was held in New Delhi on 14th-16th August 2012.

The embassy's councillor, international cooperation, science and agriculture, Uri Rubinstein said, "Our strength is in extracting maximum from each square meter - high and quality yield. So, in Bihar, we are looking towards the evolution of farmers from traditional methods and diversification of crops".

Such kinds of collaborations are not only good for Bihar but also entire India.