Honorable members of the dais, Ladies and Gentleman,  

I am proud and delighted to be here today, as the Israeli Ambassador to India, in what is one of the most important and exciting events on water and water solutions in India: the fourth India Water Week, held in Delhi.

For this event, the Indian government has brought together all the relevant stakeholders including decision makers, politicians, researchers and entrepreneurs of water resources from India as well as from other countries, to discuss strategies for managing the demand and supply of water in comprehensive and calculated manner.

I would like to congratulate the organizers of the event and especially the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation headed by Minister Uma Bharti, for providing us the opportunity to discuss, present and be part of this magnificent event.

Israel is clearly honored to be named as ‘Country Partner’ for this event and we’ll make every effort, not just today and not only in Delhi, to justify the trust in Israel, its capabilities and experience, entrusted by the Indian Government and the Indian people upon us.

The Israeli participation in this event is unprecedented. Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr. Uri Ariel, is visiting India and leading our official ministerial and business delegation. This business delegation is comprised of some of the most advanced water companies in Israel that are operating in India or are keen on working here.

In addition, the committed staff from all the Israeli missions in India – our Embassy here in Delhi and our Consulates in Mumbai and Bangalore, together with other representatives from a wide range of Israeli government ministries, agencies, authorities, organizations as well as the Israeli academia and research institutes that are present here, demonstrating the joint and considerable efforts invested by Israel in this unique endeavor of India Water Week.

This combination, of the Israeli political leadership, the Israeli government comprised of the full scope of relevant governmental stakeholders and the Israeli private sector – this triangle represented here today – is a model of the unique ecosystem Israel has to offer and a clear proof for Israel’s devotion and commitment to India, its government and most importantly - the prosperity and the development of its people.

We are here as partners but more so, as friends. We are here to share our knowledge and our experience with India.
Israel clearly is, or more accurately to say, was, a water scarce country. More than half of the country’s territory is desert while there are limited natural water resources and very low annual rain fall. As a living and constantly evolving “Development Laboratory”, Israel has clearly been able to create a robust and successful agriculture sector and industries, providing water to population that has grown more the 14 times since its independence in 1948.

As former head of MASHAV, Israel’s Agency for International Development Cooperation and as former Deputy Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations, I am personally familiar with the importance of water for sustainable development in every country and the measures and programs taken by the international community and international organizations in order to ensure better access for clean water all over the world. In this regard, Israel and India are clearly “in the same boat” and are required to take further actions to ensure continuous quality water supply to rapidly developing economies.

 

Recently, we have overcame one of the toughest droughts in the history of our region, and have developed and utilized cutting-edge water solutions and technologies to provide more water to the Israeli population and industries through sea water desalination, grey water recycling, wastewater treatment, water purification, advanced urban and rural water systems and many more relevant technologies.

In water, like in many other fields of cooperation such as defence and agriculture, we are clearly looking at our relationship as partnership.

This partnership is built firstly on friendship between our countries, between our people. There is clearly certain chemistry, a certain connection between Indians and Israelis when we meet. A connection that might be difficult to define but one that clearly present in almost every meeting.

The second foundation of this partnership is our mutual challenges. The major challenges of water, whether it is water scarcity, droughts, depleting water resources, contaminated water resources or industrial pollution – all of these challenges are shared by both of our countries and need to be tackled smartly and efficiently.

Thirdly, our common interests of development and economic prosperity that is not confined to a small group but to the entire country’s populations lead us to share tools and best practices for the benefit of our people.

Lastly, our values, our shared values that play a key role in this. Both in Israel and in India, we believe that all people should have access to clean water. It is a crucial element in our national and cultural perceptions and believes and one that we cannot and must not compromise on.

These four dominant elements of our water partnership: close friendship, mutual challenges, common interests and shared values are fully represented here in India Water Week.

Our country seminars conducted by leading Israeli experts from the public and private sectors  include sharing Israeli experience and best practices in the field of water through utilizing and optimizing water efficiently methods in agriculture by using “precise irrigation from the policy to the field”. That also includes the implementation of the Israeli Government’s biggest agriculture project abroad – the Indo-Israel Agriculture Project – in collaboration with MASHAV, Israel’s Agency for International Development Cooperation, the Ministry of Agriculture and a number of state governments through their horticulture departments. This unique project includes dozens of Centers of Excellence spread across India aimed at increasing the productivity of local farmers by using Israeli technology and know-how while being operated by Indian local experts.

Another seminar will discuss one of the most important ingredients in achieving water security – and that is Creating Awareness for Water Conservation especially in Younger Generations in order to guarantee long lasting sustainability.

Lastly, we will also share our experience so far of the Israeli participation in ‘Make in India’ initiative, and Israel’s contribution in this field. A number of Israeli water companies have already been successfully operating here, introducing needed technologies and solutions from desalination to drip irrigation, advanced urban water solution, smart metering and the list goes on. Their success and experience clearly pave the way for more and more collaborations between Indians and Israelis to ensure a better and smarter use of water in India.

Our 300 square meters National Pavilion in Pragati Maidan will showcase varied Israeli technologies, which many of them are already implemented in different parts of India. We will conduct B2B meetings as well as B2G meetings with the relevant Israeli companies offering innovative solutions. We are looking forward to host university students and high school students in our National Pavilion to increase the younger generations’ interest in finding suitable water solutions for India’s growing needs and demands in the field of water. 

Honorable members of the dais, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Israel welcomes each and every one to our National Pavilion in Pragati Maidan and to the Seminars conducted throughout the week to witness firsthand the Israeli water solutions and to share with us the Indian invaluable experience in this field. I am sure you will find it useful and relevant.

Lastly, I would like to mention that Israel has proven itself in the past to be a reliable partner for India in a number of fields including defence, agriculture and food security. It is time for us to take this cooperation one step further and to expand it to another field that directly affects each and every one of us. Water has been identified by the leadership in both India and in Israel as the ‘Next Big Thing’ that the two nations can and should collaborate. Now it is clearly the time for implementing it.
Thank you!

 

 

Honorable President of India, Pranab Mukherjee
Honorable Union Minister of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Uma Bharti
Honorable Union Minister of Railways, Suresh Prabhu
Honorable Union Minister for Rural Development, Drinking Water and Sanitation and Panchyayati Raj, Chaudhary Birender Singh
Honorable Chief Minister of Rajasthan, Vasundhra Raje,
Honorable Union Minister of State for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Prof. Sanwar Lal  Jat

Honorable Secretary of the ministry of water resources river development and ganga rejuvenation, Shashi Shekhar
  
Dear guests, Ladies and Gentleman,

I am deeply honored to be here today, representing the government of Israel and the people of Israel in the closing ceremony of the fourth ‘India Water Week 2016 - Water for all: Striving Together’, held in Delhi.

Let me start by congratulating the government of India and more specifically the Minister of water resources, river development and ganga rejuvenation, Uma Bharati, for organizing this important event, on what is one of the most crucial challenges the world faces today.

I would also like to convey my government’s thanks to India for offering us the opportunity to be a ‘Partner Country’ in this endeavor.
During your historical visit to Israel, only a few months ago, Honorable President, PM Netanyahu expressed to you Israel’s commitment to broaden the India-Israel relationship, suggesting to strengthen yet another field in our partnership – WATER!  This week, here in Delhi, we have taken this commitment to a new, upgraded stage.

In the past week, here in Delhi, many relevant stakeholders including decision makers, politicians, researchers and entrepreneurs from India as well as from other countries, discussed different strategies and ideas to confront the various water challenges, for the benefit of the people of this great country. In the past week, here in Delhi, Israel joined ‘Water week’  with a high level delegation headed by our Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Uri Ariel.

The active participation of experts and practitioners from Israel, together with the national pavilion showcasing dozens of Israeli companies and their advanced technologies, presented a glimpse of what could be, of what will be the nature of such a new, comprehensive, upgraded form of Indian Israeli water partnership. As a matter of fact, Israel already ‘Makes in India’ also in the field of water together with our Indian partners.

I am glad to report that besides high level ministerial meetings, this week,  we have also had the pleasure to receive in our pavilion distinguished visitors from states from all over India, among them Ministers, Professionals and officials from Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Meghalaya, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Haryana, Punjab and many other guests from federal government offices, NGO’s and researchers, from India  and abroad, including this morning, Honorable MINISTER BHARTI herself.

On behalf of the Government of Israel and the people of Israel, I would like to reiterate Israel’s commitment, to add another important ingredient to our ever-growing relationship, in which both our countries join hands here in Delhi and across India in the efforts for the wellbeing of both peoples.

Thank you!

Dhanyavaad