Israel is planning to install a statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in one of its “big” cities, the country's consul general to Mumbai Yaniv Revach said on the Maratha king's Coronation Day.
The consul general said that they had approached Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis “to ask his advice” on the partnership. “Of course, he gave us his blessing, and he will give us all of the support that we'll need,” Revach added.
Revealing the proposal that he sent to Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, Revach said the “long-term project” would be a display of “goodwill for the Indian people” from Israel.
“Because following the visit of Prime Minister Modi to Jerusalem, we decided to deepen the ties between Israel and India in different aspects. One of the aspects was actually the history of our two nations,” Revach told news agency ANI, adding that the idea was to build a statue of Shivaji Maharaj and send it to Israel rather than doing a big project in India.
The consul general hailed the Chhatrapati's “good governance, courage, religious tolerance”, saying these qualities continue to “inspire generations.” Revach said the statue would serve as a “powerful symbol” of India-Israel ties, and would be meaningful historically given links between Maharashtra and the Indian Jewish community.
