IIM Bangalore Director Prof. G. Raghuram speaking at the inaguration of the school’s Israel Center. Photo: IIM Bangalore.

A leading business school in India has opened a dedicated Israel Center that aims to serve as a focal point of academic cooperation between the two nations.

The Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Bangalore inaugurated the institute during a ceremony on Sunday, with Israel’s ambassador to India in attendance.

“The Israel Center at IIM Bangalore will lead to upgrading of academic collaboration between India and Israel, and will make our countries and economies stronger,” said Ambassador Daniel Carmon. “This is a merger of our ecosystems.”

Prof. G. Raghuram — director of IIM Bangalore — said the center “will provide the perfect platform for the two countries for the understanding of technology innovation, business strategy and history, government policies and culture, which in turn will lead to many more collaborations in the realm of academics, research, business, and beyond.”

Raghuram observed that Israeli companies looking “for market scale up” would be well-served by India’s more than 1.3 billion consumers.

“India’s strong aspirational entrepreneurial spirit stands to gain from Israel’s vibrant technology-based innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem,” he said.

Israel and India marked 25 years of diplomatic relations this year, an occasion Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi celebrated with a trip to the Jewish state in July — the first-ever by a holder of his office.

“India and Israel are walking hand in hand into the future as partners,” Modi and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wrote in a joint op-ed at the time. “From start-ups to space, communications to cybernetics, Israel’s technological capabilities are merging with India’s.”

Israeli exports to India rose by approximately 60 percent over the past decade, according to figures from Israel’s Economy Ministry, while bilateral trade between the two nations totaled over $4 billion last year.