| Date: |
02-02-2015 |
| Subject: |
India, Israel to restart free trade agreement talks |
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NEW DELHI: India and Israel will resume negotiations for a free trade agreement (FTA) next week, government sources confirmed, in another indication of deepening ties between the two countries since the Narendra Modi-led NDA government came to power.
A delegation of Israel's economy ministry led by its director-general Amit Lang will visit India starting February 9 to resume talks for FTA which the two countries are seeking to provide fresh momentum to their economic cooperation. The FTA has remained elusive despite over four years of negotiations.
The need for FTA was one of the main issues discussed between Modi and his counterpart Benjamin Natanyahu when they met on the side lines of UNGA in New York in September last year.
While annual trade with Israel peaked at $5.1 billion in 2011, it tapered to $4.39 billion two years later because of global recession. India and Israel are both confident though that their annual trade volume will double once the FTA is signed.
If it happens, according to Indian officials, the FTA could be the main upshot of the India's renewed engagement with Israel which started last year after Modi came to power and will most likely be upgraded this year.
Israel was expecting a visit by foreign minister Sushma Swaraj in January but this was postponed because of the upcoming Israeli elections in March. Officials from both sides said they are still hoping that Swaraj will visit Israel by the end of June. Israel may also formally hand over an invite to Swaraj for a visit by Modi. Netanyahu had invited Modi to visit Israel when he met him in New York but, according to Israeli officials, an official invite will be delivered if there are, as they said, positive indications from the Indian side.
No Indian prime minister has visit Israel since the two countries established full-scale diplomatic ties in 1992. The only Israeli PM to visit India was Ariel Sharon in 2003. With Modi coming to power, both countries seem more open to engaging publicly, including in defence and security cooperation, a clear departure from the past. While Swaraj met her counterpart Avigdor Lieberman at UNGA, home minister Rajnath Singh visited Israel in November.
In September last year, the Modi government approved the purchase from Israel of 262 Barak 1 missiles, a deal worth Rs 880 crore and which had remained enmeshed in a CBI probe since 2006. The defence ministry also chose Israel's Spike anti-tank missiles over the Javelin offered by the Americans.
Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com
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