Tel Aviv: India is committed to expanding trade, strengthening investment flows, and promoting joint infrastructure development with Israel and the Bilateral Investment Treaty signed last year will provide confidence and predictability to our businesses, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Wednesday.
During his historic address at the Israeli Parliament, Knesset — the first-ever by an Indian PM — Prime Minister Modi said that in the last few years, India has concluded a number of important trade agreements with other nations.
“To your West, the European Union, and the UK. To your East, the UAE and Oman. Our bilateral goods trade (with Israel) has grown manifold in recent years. But, it does not reflect the full scope of opportunity. That is why our teams are working hard to negotiate an ambitious Free Trade Agreement. It will unlock the vast untapped potential in our trade relationship,” PM Modi noted.
The Prime Minister further stated that they will also work closely in different formats such as the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor and the I2U2 framework between India, Israel, UAE and the US.
“Israel is often called the ‘start-up nation’. In recent years, we have also been working to unlock the innovation and creativity of our youth. I recall that in 2018, Prime Minister Netanyahu and I inaugurated the iCreate Technology Business Incubator in India. Since then, it has supported nearly 900 such start-ups,” said PM Modi.
Last week, India hosted the world’s largest and most democratised AI Impact Summit, with representatives from over 100 countries.
“Our aspirational spirit aligns naturally with Israel’s innovation ecosystem. I see a lot of synergies in areas such as quantum technologies, semiconductors, and artificial intelligence. We are also working with Israel on creating cross-border financial linkages using our Digital Public Infrastructure,” PM Modi highlighted.
“I mentioned how inspiring we found Israel’s agricultural miracle in the desert. Israeli expertise in precision irrigation and water management has already transformed agricultural practices in India,” he said.
“Together, we have established 43 Centres of Excellence across India that have provided training to more than half a million farmers. We should now set an ambitious goal of expanding to 100 Centres to benefit millions of farmers and fishermen,” the Prime Minister said.
(IANS)
