Mr. Reuven Rivlin, the President of Israel hosted a Banquet  in honour of President Pranab Mukherjee in Jerusalem today (October 14, 2015).

In his banquet speech, President Mukherjee said the challenges of the 21st century have been rapidly unfolding before us. Our future generations will have to deal with a variety of these including the globalization of extremism, the severe impact of climate change and the scarcity of water. Governments will be hard pressed to meet the rising aspirations of their people. Democracies will have to respond to the needs of increasing diversities and pluralities in their social fabric. The international community must work together now, with wisdom, to create tolerance and understanding for addressing the complex issues confronting mankind.

The President said future for bilateral relations between India and Israel is promising. In the twenty years since we normalized our relations, we have learned to do business with each other and have developed a substantial bilateral agenda. The time is opportune for us to further strengthen our economic cooperation and intensify our collaborations in science and technology. We believe that robust academic exchanges will help us build a rewarding partnership in areas of advanced technology.

This release issued at 2140 hrs.