India, Israel to hold another round of talks on FTA

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India and Israel will hold another round of negotiations by the end of March on signing the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) to achieve a bilateral trade figure of USD 10-15 billion per year.

The two countries had decided on the FTA during the recent visit of External Affairs Minister S M Krishna to Tel Aviv. "There is another round of negotiations towards the end of March and I hope both sides will do their best and by the end of this year we will sign the (FTA) agreement," Israeli Ambassador to India Alon Ushpiz told PTI.

Speaking on the occasion of 20 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries, Ushpiz said the agreement will lay the foundation for the two countries to achieve the mark of USD 10-15 billion dollar trade per year.

"Once this is signed, we are going to climb from USD 5 billion year to USD 10-15 billion dollar a year. It was the target which was agreed upon during the visit of External Affairs Minister Krishna," he said.

He also said that his country would soon open a Consulate in Bangalore to focus on activities such as homeland security and high tech agriculture. Krishna visited Tel Aviv early this month, the first such trip to that region by an Indian Foreign Minister in over a decade.

On the achievements made during the two decade-old relations between the two countries, Ushpiz said, "What we have done in last 20 years is mind-boggling. We have started not from scratch but not from very high levels when it comes to trade."

"In 20 years we have come from USD 180 million to more than USD 5 billion. 2011 was the first year when we surpassed the line of USD 5 billion," Ushpiz said.

The Israeli envoy said the two countries have made considerable growth in the agriculture sector. "We are doing amazing things in agriculture.

When we combine our scientific and agri capabilities we can do a lot of things in terms of productivity, quality and also price," he said.

On the existing defence ties between the two countries, he said, "In our perspective when you are a friend of someone, their livelihood, well being, security of India as a nation, as a society but also an individuals is very important to us."