"Our relations with China wasn't in context of investment": Israel envoy

New Delhi [India], September 11 : Israel's envoy to India Reuven Azar said that Israel's relations with China were about enjoying the manufacturing capability that the Chinese market could offer, because Israel mainly exported services.
Talking to ANI, Azar said Israel developed patents and help in production in other countries. He also said that they are looking to expand their market in India.
Explaining whether Israel wants to invest in India more than China, he said, "Well, the nature of our relations with China wasn't necessarily in the context of investment. It was in the context of enjoying the manufacturing capability that the Chinese market could offer for those who want to import finished goods to the Israeli market. Because the Israeli market is a knowledge-based economy that is concentrated mainly in the export of services and less in exports of finished products. Our traditional industries died decades ago and we actually develop IP, patents, and then we go and produce in other countries. So the question is, to what extent we will be able to produce here? There are some Israeli companies that are already doing that, but we want to expand that. And that will require investments, and that's what we want to promote."
Azar said that the principles of freedom, moderation, and accepting the other unite India and Israel.
"The bonds that unite, that bring together India and Israel are unique. First of all, because of the common history, both the Jewish people and the Indian people have been subject to invasion of empires 2,000 years ago and before. We were invaded by the Greeks just as you were. And we maintain the capability to keep our heritage and our identity despite thousands of years of invasions of empires. We have in common the principles of freedom, moderation, and accepting the other," he said.
He told ANI that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are following the lead of their predecessors, who developed partnerships years ago.
"We have a good relationship under the leadership of PM Modi and Israeli PM Netanyahu. The partnerships created years ago developed when they exchanged visits and we're following that lead. We have been benefitting from this relationship a lot and we have natural friendship, which I have felt since I arrived here," he said.
The Israeli envoy said that they want to create stability in the Middle East.
"We want together to fight extremism. We see a need to work with partners in the world, especially the United States, in order to stabilize the region. This is being challenged now a little bit by the Houthis in Yemen and by other proxies of Iran," he said.
"The increasing importance of the global role of India is obvious and it's starting to manifest itself also in the Middle East. At the end of the day, we want to create the setup that will allow us to flourish in the future and we are very happy that India is part of it," he said.
Talking about the role of India in the conflict resolution between Israel and Palestine and the Russia-Ukraine crisis and if Israel will use India's strategic autonomy or independent foreign policy for any kind of mediation, Azar said that it is up to India to decide.
"This will be up to India to decide. I think that the increasing importance of the global role of India is obvious and it's starting to manifest itself also in the Middle East. We can see it not only in the great relations between Prime Minister Modi and Prime Minister Netanyahu and the cooperation and the strategic partnership that is happening, but also in the initiative that we've seen last year between India and the UAE and the way that they have been concluding so many agreements that will allow India to connect better to the Gulf, which is also in itself a hub that connects the East and West," he said.
"At the end of the day, all the countries that are partners in the Abraham Accords are working... to create stability and prosperity. We want to be in a situation in which we can create an understanding how to defend these assets together. So all this cooperation we're having on the table... create the setup that will allow us to flourish in the future. And we are very happy that India is part of it, that India actually joined the initiative that President Biden announced during the G20. And we have a lot of work ahead of us in order to make it happen," he said.