Israel, a global leader in water management, is working closely with India. Both countries signed two major water agreements to increase cooperation in water conservation and State water utility reform during Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi’s visit to Israel in 2017. Another historic visit was conducted by India’s Union minister of jal shakti, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, when he travelled to Israel in 2019 to advance water cooperation between the two countries.

Mashav, Israel’s Agency for International Development Cooperation, is engaged in projects all over the world, including India, to pursue sustainable development. India is the only country where Israel has the position of a water attache to help share Israeli best practices and technologies with India. Modern Israeli technologies, such as drip irrigation, are helping local farmers in India to grow crops in water-scarce regions. In 2020, Israel signed an agreement with the government of Uttar Pradesh to establish the India-Israel Bundelkhand Water Project — a flagship water project in the region.

We believe that innovative technological solutions to the water crisis can be a central part of dealing with the climate crisis, for both adaptation and mitigation.

It is estimated that some 2.5 billion people live in water-scarce areas, a phenomenon expected to worsen as the climate crisis, global population growth, demand for industrial and agricultural products, and desertification intensify. Water scarcity is causing migration and conflict, placing millions of people at risk of displacement due to water scarcity in the coming years.

To overcome this, formulating a comprehensive and integrated campaign will be key. This effort should include the following steps: Guide and educate on water conservation; increase water use efficiency; accrue international, public, and private funding; rehabilitate polluted water sources; encourage investments and research and development (R&D); and crucially, learn how to practise good water management at the local, national, regional and global scale.

We must explore new approaches towards investing in water and sanitation-related services, while ensuring every person’s right to safe drinking water. In this regard, Israel can make a significant contribution as a country with one of the world’s most advanced water systems and an abundance of R&D and innovative technologies. One example is the treatment and recycling of sewage. Another field is the prevention of water loss in urban systems. While in Israel, only a small fraction of water is lost in urban supply systems, in other countries, this rate is much higher.

In Israel, a variety of technologies and methods have been developed to prevent water loss in supply systems, detect leaks, and more. If this was the status quo the world over, it would be possible to reduce and prevent environmental pollution and the destruction of natural systems, while allowing treated water to flow back into nature and agriculture. It would be possible to simultaneously reduce large-scale emissions of greenhouse gases, build agricultural resilience against the climate crisis, allow more water in nature for natural systems to better function, prevent the destruction of ecological systems as a result of pollution or water scarcity, and much more.

Israel is able and willing to share our know-how and best practices with fellow nations, so that every individual across the globe is able to enjoy the essential human right to safe and clean water. Israel is eager to contribute its share of experience, as well as to learn from the experience of others.

As Israel and India complete 30 years of full diplomatic relations, the two countries can jointly lead the way for sustainable development to establish state-of-the-art solutions for the entire world. Together, the two nations can generate innovations to benefit the lives of people and change the world for the better.

Naor Gilon is ambassador of Israel to India

The views expressed are personal