World

India-Israel eager to finalise the FTA, says Israeli Amb to India Naor Gilon

Ambassador of Israel to India Naor Gilon held a press conference at his residence on February 22, concluding the celebration of 30 years of India-Israel relations. He talked about the highlights of India and Israel at 30, and both the country’s increasing bilateral cooperation in defence, trade, tech and much more.

“We are working on PM Netanyahu’s visit to India. Hopefully, the visit of our foreign minister to India will be coming up soon,” Israel’s Ambassador Naor Gilon said during his press conference. He further informed that India and Israel are eager to finalise the proposed Free Trade Agreement (FTA) since it will strengthen overall bilateral trade ties. During a press conference in New Delhi, Ambassador Gilon hinted that the FTA could witness a forward movement during Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu’s upcoming high-level visit to India.

Talking to the media, Ambassador Naor Gilon said, “Friendship and support of India and Israel started many years ago and will continue for many years to come. We are very close in many fields..and I’m proud of the cooperation we are doing and I’m more proud about the cooperation we will do in the future.” He also informed that on the completion of 30 years of Israel-India diplomatic relations, a Centre for Excellence has been launched in Haryana.

Ambassador Gilon described the two nations’ defence connections as extremely robust. He stated that Israel has the benefit of supporting India in its quest to become self-sufficient in defence manufacturing due to the two countries’ long-standing trust in the field. According to the Israeli envoy, there is a significant opportunity to expand collaboration in renewable energy, smart mobility, agriculture, healthcare, water, and cyber and homeland security.

Briefing the media, he stated that India is rising beyond being a regional power to become a world power. “We want our friends to remain close to us. We feel very comfortable with India. As I said before, Indian-controlled ports in Israel is something that we’re welcoming,” he added.

During the press briefing, the Israeli envoy talked about Israel’s handing over of the strategic port of Haifa to the Adani Group. He said that it is a reflection of the trust that it has in India. “It was a very important move from our point of view because Haifa Port is our strategic asset,” he said.

Ambassador Gilon also talked about the first I2U2 Business Forum that was organised in UAE on February 22, where the I2U2 grouping of India, Israel, UAE, and US met and the Sherpas reiterated their commitment to the partnership and reviewed progress in all the existing and prospective I2U2 projects.

 

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