Israel's Diamond Exchange is home to some 30 Indian companies, making India the foreign nation with the biggest number of firms on the bourse
Pravin Kukadia, Director of Eminent Gems LTD, displays a diamond to the reporters after answering questions about the diamond trade between Israel and India at his office at the Israel World Diamond Center in the Israeli town of Ramat Gan, on the outskirts of Tel Aviv. (Credits: JACK GUEZ / AFP)
In his small office in the Israel Diamond Exchange near the coastal city of Tel Aviv, Pravin Kukadia proudly presents his collection of precious stones.
Between Kukadia's homeland, India, and his country of residence, Israel, diamonds have forged a key diplomatic and economic link—representing some 1.5 billion dollars a year and roughly half of all trade between the nations, according to diamond experts.
Kukadia first came to Israel in 1996, but soon made regular visits to Israel as a buyer for his family business based in western India's Gujarat state's Surat city—where 90 percent of the world's diamonds are cut and polished.
"At that time, I bought rough diamonds," he said, carefully inspecting a particularly rare example, a rose-coloured diamond. "I bought small sizes—my speciality was small and cheap."