The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee has congratulated H.E. Mr. Reuven Rivlin, on his election as the President of Israel.

In a message to H.E. Mr. Reuven Rivlin, the President has said, "On behalf of the Government and the people of India, I extend my heartiest felicitations to you on your victory in the elections to the high office of the President of the State of Israel.

As you may be aware, in recent years the relationship between India and Israel has deepened in diverse areas of mutual interest. We attach priority to our relations with Israel and seek a further strengthening of our mutually beneficial cooperation in areas such as trade and economy, security, culture and people-to-people exchanges. Complementary to this, India and Israel are two of the leading knowledge economies of the world and we look forward to working towards building a strong hi-tech partnership based on science, research and innovation.

I take this opportunity to convey to you our best wishes for the progress and prosperity of the people of Israel”.

This release issued at 1635 hrs