India, Israel sign cultural agreement to further boost people-to-people ties

India and Israel signed a cultural agreement that outlines a three-year programme of cooperation to further strengthen their strategic bilateral relations today. It aims to promote greater people-to-people exchanges.

The agreement was signed by Israel’s Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi and India’s Ambassador to Israel, Sanjeev Singla, at the foreign ministry in Jerusalem.

The agreement states that it shall contribute to the development of their relations and to raising awareness, particularly among youth, of the history and culture of the people of both countries.

The programme of cooperation between the two countries for the years 2020-23 is based on the cultural agreement signed between them on May 18, 1993, a little more than a year after they established full-fledged diplomatic relations.

The major areas of cooperation identified to promote cultural ties include the exchange of culture and art experts, encouraging cooperation in the protection of cultural heritage and archaeology with the help of Israel Antiquities Authority (IIA) and Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and organising literary fests and book fairs while promoting the translation of famous works in each other’s languages.

It also includes student exchanges through scholarships, encouraging the participation of films and film-makers in each other’s international film festivals, devising youth exchange programmes and encouraging sports-related interaction among youth. (With inputs from AIR)