Mr Alon Ushpiz, Ambassador of Israel to India, on Tuesday said Israel was keen to establish co-operation with West Bengal in the fields of agriculture and water management.

The envoy met the Chief Minister, Ms Mamata Banerjee, on Monday, to discuss the possible areas of co-operation.

Israel has also expressed interest in setting up a Centre of Excellence in West Bengal.

“Israeli economy is basically an agro-based and hence we carried out a lot of innovation. We introduced new technologies in agriculture. We are keen to co-operate with the State in this field,” Mr Ushpiz told newspersons on the sidelines of an interactive session organised by the CII-Suresh Neotia Centre of Excellence for Leadership here today.

There is at present one Indo-Israel Centre of Excellence for vegetables at Karnal in Haryana.

The Centre focuses on increasing crop productivity by using the appropriate technology.

The water scarcity in Israel has pushed the country to develop technology on efficient water management. “Close to 75 per cent of our sewerage water goes back into agriculture. We have developed a number of technologies for recycling of water,” he said.

However, when asked if Israel has entered into any agreement with the West Bengal Government, Mr Ushpiz said, “No pact is on the table yet. We are, however, looking at doing something tangible.”

This apart, Israel was also keen on co-operating with India in the areas of internal security, renewable energy, reuse of sewerage water and desalination of water, he added.

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