Israel may soon sign free trade agreement with India

Jaipur, May 26 (ANI): Israel's Ambassador to India Mark Sofer, has said in Jaipur that India and Israel would soon be signing a free trade agreement.

Sofer was interacting with media on Tuesday in Jaipur.

He also mentioned that preliminary negotiations would commence on Wednesday and a team of experts from Tel Aviv would be reaching New Delhi.

"The Indian Government has decided to go ahead with the free trade agreement. So, we are bringing over our experts, actually they arrive today and the talks will start, I think, tomorrow. So, we are very excited about that," Sofer said.

He further noted that this landmark agreement would give a major boost to both economies.

"I reckon that the negotiations will take a bit of time. These are very tough negotiations, they affect industry, they affect agriculture, they affect technologies, they affect transfers of know-how. It's not easy," he added.

Sofer said that after the free trade agreement is signed, civilian trade between the two countries would reach around 12 billion dollars, triple the present figure of four billion dollars.

Israel is extending help to India for better utilization of water and two Israeli companies are going to operate in Rajasthan.

Israel would also set up its research and development centres in Rajasthan to use saline water for agriculture. (ANI)