Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], June 6 (ANI): Yaniv Revach, Israel's Consul General in Mumbai said on Saturday that on the occasion of the coronation day of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, he sought permission from Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to build a statue of the ruler and establish it in Israel.

Revach, in a conversation with ANI, said that he was inspired to do so after learning the similarities between India and Israel.

'First, I should greet the Indian people that today is the coronation day of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and it was important for me to greet the Indian people for that. Now when I came here to India a few months ago, I learned about the similarities between India and Israel,' he said.

Revach said that following the visit of Prime Minister Modi to Jerusalem, they decided to deepen the ties between Israel and India.

'The fact that we both, both nations, had to fight. The Jews also had to fight for their land for many, many decades. And we understand exactly what is the influence and how important is Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj to India also. So instead of offering or doing a big project here in India, we decided to do something which will be more of a goodwill for the Indian people. 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. And this is why we chose Chattrapati Shivaji Maharaj,' he said.

Revach said that the project will connect Indians with Israelis.

'So the idea was to build the big statue of the Maharaj and send it to Israel. So it would be more than just a regular project, but it's going to be a project for the long run. And the Indian people will also be connected to the Israeli people through this project. So we plan to bring it to one of the big cities in Israel. And I came to the office of the minister, the chief minister Devendra Fadnavis to ask his advice and to see if we can actually partner together. Of course, he gave us immediately his blessing and he will give us all of the support that we'll need,' he said.

Fadnavis vowed to extend his full support for the initiative.

https://x.com/Dev_Fadnavis/status/2063237800481452495?s=20

In a post on X, he said, 'This is huge news! On the auspicious occasion of Shiv Rajyabhishek din, heartfelt thanks to Israel CG Yaniv Revach for this historic announcement of installing a grand statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in Israel. Maharashtra Govt will extend complete support for this historic initiative. Jai Bhavani, Jai Shivaji!' (ANI)