Israel, India to step up engagement to fight terror

Undeterred by the attack against its diplomat in New Delhi, Israel on Tuesday vowed to step up ties with India to jointly fight against the menace of terrorism.

"Our country has been exposed to terrorism since the establishment of the state. It has taken place from time to time all over the world," Israel's Minister for Energy and Water Resources, Uzi Landau said.

"With the full cooperation with the Indian government we will on the one hand challenge and intercept terror and on the other hand keep promoting business between the two sides", Landau asserted.

"On the government side, on the contrary, the answer to terror is to step up activities between both of our countries", the Israeli minister added, noting that business in India has grown over the past 20 years from Rs 10,400 cr to over Rs 26,000 cr.

India's Minister for Urban Development, Kamal Nath, also participating in the seminar stressed that this was "an isolated incident" and that his government was committed to bringing culprits to justice.

"Both our foreign minister and minister for internal security have condemned this. We believe this to be an isolated incident. India itself has been a victim of terrorism and this is being fully investigated by the government of India", Nath told the audience.

"We are committed to bring culprits to justice", he emphasised.