Israel eyes deeper economic ties with India, finalizing investment protection deal

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich walks to visit the Damascus Gate to Jerusalem’s Old City, as Israelis mark Jerusalem Day, in Jerusalem May 26, 2025. (Reuters)

• India has become in recent years one of Israel’s most important trade partners globally, volume of trade and investments between two countries expected to increase

JERUSALEM: Israel and India are finalizing an investment protection agreement and expect to sign it in the coming months, Israel’s Finance Ministry said on Tuesday.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and the ministry’s chief economist Shmuel Abramzon discussed the issue, which it did not elaborate on, and other economic matters with Indian Ambassador to Israel J.P. Singh.

“Deepening economic ties with India is one of the goals I have set,” Smotrich said after the meeting in Jerusalem, calling India a “true friend of Israel.” An investment protection agreement is a treaty in which countries aim to reduce the perceived risk of investing in each other, such as by offering protections against unfair treatment or removing restrictions on transferring capital and profits.

India, the ministry noted, has become in recent years one of Israel’s most important trade partners globally and especially in Asia, and the volume of trade and investments between the two countries is expected to increase sharply in the coming years in light of their strengthening diplomatic and security relations.

Bilateral trade between India and Israel in 2024 came to almost $4 billion.

“In recent years, we have witnessed a strengthening of economic ties between us, including in the fields of defense exports and infrastructure,” Smotrich said.

“The potential for further strengthening our economic cooperation is immense. It can leverage our shared technological capabilities, India’s demographic scale, and the geo-strategic position of both countries.”