India, Israel revive FTA push as Goyal meets Netanyahu in Jerusalem | Mint

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

76% : "Israel and India are strengthening our strategic partnership, more investments, more innovation, and a strong economic corridor from India through Israel to Europe.
74% : Experts believe that an India-Israel FTA could unlock opportunities in cybersecurity, agri-technology, clean energy, food processing, water solutions and digital services, areas where both countries already have strong complementarities.
65% : New Delhi: India and Israel signalled a renewed push in their economic partnership on Sunday after commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal met Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog in Jerusalem.
61% : "For India and Israel, agriculture has always been a natural area of collaboration, and the renewed push on the FTA could significantly scale this partnership.
58% : Israel's strengths in precision farming, water-use efficiency and protected cultivation align well with India's needs, especially as climate stress rises," said Binod Anand, secretary general of the Confederation of NGOs of Rural India and a member of the government's committee on minimum support price (MSP).
57% : For India, Israel is part of a broader effort to expand trade partnerships after sealing agreements with the UAE, Australia and EFTA countries.
56% : For Israel, closer ties with India offer access to a large and fast-growing market and help strengthen economic partnerships in Asia amid changing geopolitical conditions.
54% : During the signing of the terms, Goyal and Israel's minister of economy and industry Nir Barka expressed confidence that the negotiations would move constructively towards a balanced and mutually-beneficial pact.
49% : "A deeper trade framework can accelerate technology transfer, bring down costs of critical equipment and open new opportunities for joint innovation across horticulture, drip irrigation and post-harvest management," said Anand. India and Israel have been negotiating an FTA since May 2010, but the progress has been slow.
49% : The eighth round of talks were held in Israel in November 2013.
42% : The meetings come at a time when the two countries are preparing to take the first formal steps towards negotiations for a free trade agreement (FTA), a process that has been discussed intermittently since 2013, but is now drawing political attention on both sides.
33% : India's exports to Israel fell from $4.52 billion in FY24 to $2.14 billion in FY25, while imports fell from $2 billion to $1.48 billion.

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