New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday set aside protocol to personally receive his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu with a warm hug as he arrived here on a six-day visit.

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As Netanyahu and his wife Sara stepped on the red carpet at the airport here, a smiling PM Modi embraced the Israeli leader and then shook hands with the couple.








In a sign of growing importance to the ties with Israel, the government on Sunday renamed Delhi's Teen Murti Chowk as Teen Murti-Haifa Chowk after the Israeli city. 

PM Modi and Netanyahu laid a wreath at the iconic Teen Murti war memorial where they were received by Army Chief General Bipin Rawat and Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar.

The two leaders paid homage to Indian soldiers who fell in the battle of Haifa during World War I. 






This is the first visit to India by an Israeli PM since Ariel Sharon came in 2003.

On Monday morning, Netanyahu will lay a wreath at Rajghat to pay homage to Mahatma Gandhi. On Tuesday, he will fly to Agra to view the Taj Mahal.

Netanyahu and PM Modi will open the Raisina Dialogue, India's annual geopolitical conference to be attended by people from around the world, including former US nuclear negotiator Wendy Sherman, in Delhi.

They will also visit the PM Modi's home state Gujarat where they will go to the Centre of Excellence in Agriculture at Vadrad. 

Netanyahu will interact with business leaders in Mumbai and meet representatives of Bollywood. He will return to Israel on Friday afternoon from Mumbai.


(With IANS inputs)