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India-Israel Relations- Prologue
Israels Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Visited India on a 6 day long State visit in January 2018. The visit was a follow up from Israel when PM Narendra Modi visited Israel on a historic visit back in July 2017. Isarel’s PM Netanyahu termed Israel’s relations with India as a “marriage made in heaven but consecrated here on earth”.Further he added ,There is “prosperity, peace and progress” in bilateral ties.
Significance of the visit
Year 2018 marks the 25 th anniversary of full-fledged diplomatic ties between the two countries.The visit is significant especially after India voted in the UN General Assembly against recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.The visit clears apprehensions of a road block in India-Israel relations.It served as a good opportunity for businessmen from both sides to interact with and understand each other.The iconic Teen Murti Chowk in central New Delhi was renamed as Teen Murti-Haifa after Israeli City Haifa.
Recent Developments
“India-Israel Industrial R&D and Technological Innovation Fund” was concluded in July 2017 when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Israel. This will support high value-added R&D and enhance the knowledge base of Indian technology industries. The techno-economic collaboration is expected to increase significantly. Israel will invest $68.6 million to boost cooperation with India in areas like tourism, technology, agriculture and innovation over a period of four years. India has been trying hard to balance its relationship with Israel with its support to the Palestinian cause. Israel seems to understand India’s position, which is a sign of maturity. India and Israel are set to jointly develop new crop varieties and share post harvest technologies following the success of the 10-year-old Indo-Israeli Agriculture Project (IIAP).
Economic Relations
Trade, technology and tourism are the three key areas in India-Israel economic relations. Over the last 25 years, bilateral trade has increased from $200 million to more than $4 billion (excluding defence) in 2016-17. Given India’s large market and huge consumer base, the numbers are low compared to India’s economic relations with other countries. Number of opportunities can be explored by both the nations in this field.
Defence Ties
India already has robust defence ties with Israel which is expected to strengthen further. India is the largest arms buyer from Israel; trade is to the tune of approximately $600 million. If defence ties keep increasing at the same rate, Israel may replace Russia as India’s largest arms supplier. Last year, India signed the biggest weapons deal in Israeli defence history, which is nearly $2 billion. This will provide India with an advanced defence system of medium-range surface-to-air missiles, launchers and communications technology.
Water and Agriculture
Israel has become one of the foremost technology superpowers in areas such as rainwater. harvesting, use of oceanic water and using that for irrigation in the most dry land. Israel has mastered water conservation techniques and India can learn from it. It helps India to face its water stressed condition. Another area of potential cooperation is cleaning polluted rivers.
Way Forward
The two sides must expedite talks on trade and investment in an effort to take bilateral ties to the next level. Need for a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) as well as a Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) at the “earliest” in an effort to forge greater business-to-business ties. India must provide greater market access especially in the farm sector, pharmaceuticals and automobiles segments. Together, the existing Indian and Israeli innovation ecosystem can create a global impact. Israeli companies can join hands with India’s manufacturing sectors to scale up the innovations. Greater partnership in new R&D projects in India in areas like digital healthcare, agriculture and water. India can leverage its space technologies to Israel for its developmental purposes where India enjoys upper hand. India could well take a cue from how Israel maintains stringent external and internal security, allowing Israeli settlements right up to the border of conflict zones. Both need to cooperate to combat growing radicalization and terrorism, including in cyber space. Israel will be benefited from large pool of skilled Indian engineers and doctors as Mr. Netanyahu’s quoted “Indian talent and Israeli technology equals India-Israel ties for tomorrow.”
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