India PM Narendra Modi and Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahu. (Twitter/PIB)

Narendra Modi in Israel: India Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu today signed seven MoUs on some important areas of cooperation. Ranging from water to agriculture to space, the MoUs are expected to help take the bilateral cooperation between the two nations to a new level. Apart from these seven MoUs, both leaders also held talks on combating terrorism and cyber security threats. “Prime Minister Netanyahu and I agreed to do much more to protect our strategic interests. We will also cooperate to combat growing radicalisation and terrorism. Our cyber security authorities will exchange expertise and knowledge to tackle this menace in cyberspace,” PM Modi said, adding, “We also discussed the situation in West Asia and the wider region. It is India’s hope that peace, dialogue and restraint will prevail.”

Here are the seven MoUs signed by PM Modi and Netanyahu and why they are significant:

1. MoU for setting up of India-Israel Industrial Research and Development and Technological Innovation Fund (I4F).

India-Israel plans to boost technological cooperation. This MoU will help both countries. PM Modi said, “We are of the view that together our scientists and researchers would develop, build and implement mutually beneficial solutions in this field. Our decision to establish a bilateral Technology Innovation fund worth $40 million for research in industrial development will help us in achieving this goal.”

2. MoU for Water Conservation in India

Israel is the world leader in water conservation technology and also an exporter of drinking water in West Asia. The MoU on water conservation will help India learn advanced water conservation techniques and technologies, helping the water scarce regions of the vast country. PM Modi said, “We agreed that efficiency of water and resource use; water conservation and its purification; productivity increases in agriculture are key areas in deepening our bilateral cooperation.”

3. MoU on State Water Utility Reform in India

India needs a reform on the use of water across states. This MoU is expected to help develop best practices and their implementation to help solve India’s water woes.

4. India-Israel Development Cooperation – 3-year work program in Agriculture 2018-2020

Ever since coming to power, PM Modi has been promising to boost income and condition of farmers in the country. With the help of smart technologies and practices, Israel has emerged as an example in agriculture production in the world. This MoU is expected to help Indian government’s agenda of improving farmers’ income in the country.

5. Plan of cooperation regarding atomic clocks

Atomic clocks are the most accurate type of clock regulated by the vibrations of an atomic or molecular system such as caesium or ammonia. These are designed to measure the precise length of a second. At present, there are only a few experimental atomic clocks in the world, including in the US, Japan, Switzerland, China, India, Singapore, Hong Kong etc.

Accurate atomic clocks are immensely required for GPS, Satellites etc. This MoU will help India-Israel advance the research on atomic clocks.

6. MoU regarding cooperation in GEO-LEO optical link

This MoU on Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (GEO) and Low Earth Orbit (LEO) optical link could help develop affordable broadband in future via satellites.

7. MoU regarding cooperation in Electric Propulsion for Small Satellites

Electric propulsion uses electric energy to accelerate the propellant during satellite launch. Most of the spacecraft today are propelled by forcing a gas from the rear of the space vehicle. With India and Israel having high stakes in space technology, both will benefit with the MoU.