Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Israeli counterpart Naftali Bennett spoke by phone on Monday after Tel Aviv called off the latter’s trip to New Delhi.
Mr Bennett was scheduled to make his first state visit to India this week but it was cancelled after the Israeli leader tested positive for Covid-19.
“Was happy to speak with PM Naftali Bennett and to know that he is recovering well. We discussed recent global events, and also reviewed India-Israel co-operation in various areas,” Mr Modi tweeted after his telephonic call.
Mr Modi offered his condolences over the five deaths in a terrorist attack in Israel's capital Tel Aviv, India’s Foreign Ministry said.
India and Israel are this year marking the 30th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations between the two nations.
“It was great speaking to you my friend, @NarendraModi. I look forward to seeing you soon!” Mr Bennett tweeted after his call with Mr Modi.
The two nations have strengthened bilateral ties in recent decades, particularly since Mr Modi came to power in the world’s largest democracy.
Mr Modi made a historic visit to Israel in 2017 — the first official visit there by an Indian prime minister — a significant move by New Delhi that for decades was seen as pursuing a largely pro-Palestine policy.
India was the only non-Arab country among the 13 which in 1948 voted against the creation of Israel as a separate state under the UN partition plan of Palestine in the General Assembly.
India recognised Israel two years later and formally established diplomatic relations in January 1992 when it opened its embassy in Tel Aviv.
For decades, India had maintained a tense balancing act between Israel and Palestine.
But after Mr Modi’s right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party came to power in 2014, New Delhi gradually decoupled the Israel-Palestine issue and bolstered its relationship with Tel Aviv, particularly in defence and strategic areas.
India has used the terms “natural allies” and “strategic partners” to describe the relationship between the two nations.
New Delhi in recent years has abstained from UN resolutions condemning Israel.
It did so last month, abstaining from voting at the UN Human Rights Council that condemned Israeli actions in the occupied Palestinian territories.
India is Israel's third largest trading partner in Asia and the bilateral trade has diversified into several sectors including pharmaceuticals, agriculture, IT and telecoms, and homeland security.
The bilateral merchandise trade between the countries stood at $5.65 billion dollars in 2018-2019.
The two countries have for years been working to deepen co-operation on defence and information technology.
India is Israel’s biggest market for military hardware and supplies various weapon systems, missiles and technology. It had supplied arms to India during the Kargil war with Pakistan in 1999.
There are also routine exchanges between the armed forces of the two countries.
Last year, the Indian government was accused of illegally using an Israeli surveillance spyware Pegasus to snoop on an array of opposition leaders, journalists, academics and retired and serving government bureaucrats.
Mr Modi’s government has given vague replies on the purchase and use of the spyware by his administration but a committee is looking into the allegations after the Supreme Court ordered a probe last year.
About Tenderd
Started: May 2018
Founder: Arjun Mohan
Based: Dubai
Size: 23 employees
Funding: Raised $5.8m in a seed fund round in December 2018. Backers include Y Combinator, Beco Capital, Venturesouq, Paul Graham, Peter Thiel, Paul Buchheit, Justin Mateen, Matt Mickiewicz, SOMA, Dynamo and Global Founders Capital
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The finalists
Player of the Century, 2001-2020: Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus), Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Mohamed Salah (Liverpool), Ronaldinho
Coach of the Century, 2001-2020: Pep Guardiola (Manchester City), Jose Mourinho (Tottenham Hotspur), Zinedine Zidane (Real Madrid), Sir Alex Ferguson
Club of the Century, 2001-2020: Al Ahly (Egypt), Bayern Munich (Germany), Barcelona (Spain), Real Madrid (Spain)
Player of the Year: Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
Club of the Year: Bayern Munich, Liverpool, Real Madrid
Coach of the Year: Gian Piero Gasperini (Atalanta), Hans-Dieter Flick (Bayern Munich), Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool)
Agent of the Century, 2001-2020: Giovanni Branchini, Jorge Mendes, Mino Raiola
One in nine do not have enough to eat
Created in 1961, the World Food Programme is pledged to fight hunger worldwide as well as providing emergency food assistance in a crisis.
One of the organisation’s goals is the Zero Hunger Pledge, adopted by the international community in 2015 as one of the 17 Sustainable Goals for Sustainable Development, to end world hunger by 2030.
The WFP, a branch of the United Nations, is funded by voluntary donations from governments, businesses and private donations.
Almost two thirds of its operations currently take place in conflict zones, where it is calculated that people are more than three times likely to suffer from malnutrition than in peaceful countries.
It is currently estimated that one in nine people globally do not have enough to eat.
On any one day, the WFP estimates that it has 5,000 lorries, 20 ships and 70 aircraft on the move.
Outside emergencies, the WFP provides school meals to up to 25 million children in 63 countries, while working with communities to improve nutrition. Where possible, it buys supplies from developing countries to cut down transport cost and boost local economies.
MATCH INFO
Manchester City 3 (Silva 8' &15, Foden 33')
Birmginahm City 0
Man of the match Bernado Silva (Manchester City)
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
