Ahmedabad, January 17: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara Netanyahu on Wednesday arrived in Ahmedabad as part of their six-day visit to India. Setting aside protocol, the Israeli couple were received by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Ahmedabad airport. Gujarat is set to roll out the red carpet today for Netanyahu and his wife- who arrived in New Delhi on a six-day visit along with PM Modi. The two leaders will hold a roadshow, which will begin from the city airport and end at the Sabarmati Ashram, a journey of eight kilometres.

The Prime Minister has called the Gujarat visit an opportunity "to see the fulfilment of the promise, which mutual cooperation holds in diverse areas such as agriculture, technology, and innovation". As the day progresses, both the leaders will then visit the Sabarkantha-based centre of excellence for agriculture established by Isreal. They will inaugurate a research facility for the cultivation of dates in Kutch by remote control from Sabarkantha.

As per reports, about 50 stages will be erected on the roadside along the stretch and people from different states of the country will welcome Netanyahu. Security has been beefed up in Ahmedabad for the visiting dignitaries.

The two leaders, who hit it off during Modi's visit to Israel in July last year, the first by an Indian prime minister, would visit two centres of excellence and inaugurate another such facility.

During the visit, both the leaders held a comprehensive dialogue on a variety of issues. Ahead of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's high-profile India visit, a senior official in Jerusalem had said that Israel plans to invest USD 68.6 million to boost cooperation with India in areas like tourism, technology, agriculture and innovation over a period of four years. Both the leaders also attended a ceremony at the Teen Murti Memorial in the afternoon to mark the formal renaming of Teen Murti Chowk as the Teen Murti Haifa Chowk, after the Israeli city of Haifa.

Netanyahu is leading a high-profile delegation comprising 130 businessmen from 102 Israeli companies.  On Tuesday, Netanyahu, accompanied by his wife Sara travelled to Agra to see the Taj Mahal and then returned to Delhi to participate in the Raisina Dialogue.  Netanyahu is scheduled to wrap up his Gujarat visit later in the evening and fly to Mumbai. In Mumbai, he will open a memorial for 26/11 terror attack victims at Chabad House. To recall, this is the second visit by an Israeli Prime Minister to India after a gap of 15 years since Ariel Sharon visited New Delhi in 2003.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 17, 2018 11:55 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).