New Delhi [India], October 28 (ANI): Israel's new Ambassador to India Naor Gilon on Thursday congratulated India for achieving the landmark figure of one billion COVID-19 vaccinations.

"I want to congratulate the Indian people for the great success in one billion COVID19 vaccinations. In Israel, we did quite a good vaccination campaign," said the Israeli Ambassador to India.

Last week, India crossed the 100 crore COVID-19 vaccinations mark. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had lauded the success of the country's vaccination programme, saying this effort shows the potential of India.

While recognising India's feat, Gilon stated that Israel, his country, was among the first countries in the world to start "very heavy" COVID-19 vaccinations.

"We administered to most people eligible for third vaccination, hoping it'll help as we were first in the world to start very heavy vaccinations. We saw the effectiveness going down at least in Pfizer that we used, after about 6 months," he added.

During his address in the national capital, Gilon also underscored the importance of External Affairs Minster Minister S Jaishnakar's recent visit to Israel.

"It was an important visit as due to COVID it came after a long period. It gave me a wonderful opportunity as a new Ambassador to be exposed to issues between our nations better and have an ability to influence them," said Gilon on Jaishnakar's recent visit to Israel.

"It was a very warm visit, very friendly which I think emphasized the strategic partnership declared during the visit of PM Modi in Israel. I think that the visit was in the spotlight of 30 years of diplomatic relations which we are going to celebrate on 29th Jan next year," he added.

Earlier this week, Gilon presented his Letters of Credence to President Ram Nath Kovind at Rashtrapati Bhavan. (ANI)