Narendra Modi and Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday welcomed the strides made in unlocking the full potential of bilateral trade and investment between the two countries. They welcomed the signing of the India-Israel Bilateral Investment Agreement by the two Finance Ministers in New Delhi in September 2025. They encouraged greater Indian participation in Israel’s infrastructure sector and reaffirmed their commitment to advancing transformative initiatives such as the I2U2 Group quadrilateral partnership.
In the details shared in the joint statement, it was mentioned that the prime ministers “welcomed the signing of the India-Israel Bilateral Investment Agreement by the two Finance Ministers in New Delhi in September 2025, which is expected to enhance investor confidence, promote greater two-way investments, and ensure transparency, predictability, and protection through a clear framework for the treatment of investment and an independent dispute resolution mechanism.”
Notably, Prime Minister Netanyahu appreciated India’s fintech revolution, exemplified by the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), describing it as a world-class model for affordable, real-time cross-border transactions. Both sides agreed to explore linking UPI with Israel’s fast payment system to enhance interoperability and strengthen economic ties.
As per the statement, both leaders encouraged greater Indian participation in Israel’s infrastructure sector, particularly in light of major upcoming projects in metro, rail, road, airports, desalination plants, and wastewater treatment plants.
The leaders noted that direct air connectivity is a basic building block essential for scaling the bilateral relationship to new heights. In this regard, they expressed their desire to expand direct air connectivity between Tel Aviv and major Indian cities and encouraged both Indian and Israeli airlines to take up the opportunity to start direct flight operations between the two countries, the statement added.
Both leaders welcomed the signing of the Terms of Reference (ToR) for the Free Trade Area (FTA) Agreement negotiations and the convening of the first negotiating round in New Delhi. The leaders asserted their commitment to the realisation of the FTA Agreement between the two countries and tasked the negotiating teams with expediting the negotiations for an early signing of the FTA.
According to the joint statement, both leaders emphasised that a resilient financial ecosystem is a fundamental pillar of economic stability. They welcomed the strategic partnership in the financial-cyber domain. This collaboration will focus on enhancing the resilience of the financial ecosystem through the exchange of financial-cyber intelligence, joint development of methodologies, and the conduct of multilateral financial-cyber simulations operationalised through the Financial Computer Security Incident Response Teams of both countries.
Both leaders welcomed the signing of an MoU between NPCI International and MASAV to examine linkages for cross-border payments between the two countries. They also welcomed the launch of the India-Israel Financial Dialogue to boost closer financial cooperation.
PM Modi and PM Netanyahu welcomed the successful conclusion of the fourth round of the India-Israel CEOs Forum and Business Summit in Tel Aviv in November 2025. They commended the meaningful engagement between business and government leaders, which contributed to strengthening bilateral economic cooperation and unlocking new opportunities for investment and collaboration across key sectors. Both leaders reaffirmed their commitment to building on this positive momentum to further deepen the India-Israel strategic partnership.
They also welcomed the signing of the MoU on Arbitration between the Indian Council of Arbitration (ICA) and the Israeli Institute of Commercial Arbitration (IICA), recognising it as a significant step toward facilitating smoother commercial dispute resolution and enhancing investor confidence.
“In an era of global uncertainties, Prime Minister Modi and Prime Minister Netanyahu reaffirmed their commitment to advancing transformative initiatives such as the I2U2 quadrilateral partnership. This framework serves as a vital instrument for fostering deeper engagement, trade, investment, innovation, and leveraging the complementary strengths of both nations. The leaders discussed the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) and expressed their intent to advance cooperation to promote regional connectivity, stability, and shared prosperity through the initiative and explore Israel’s role within its frameworks,” the statement added.
Recognising the strategic partnership and advocating the need to comprehensively enhance bilateral relations, the Prime Ministers welcomed the signing of several agreements between the two countries. These include the MoU on cooperation in Artificial Intelligence (AI); a Letter of Intent on the establishment of the Indo-Israel Cyber Centre of Excellence in India; a Memorandum of Understanding between the Minister of Education of the Republic of India and the Minister of Education of the State of Israel on advancing education through the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI); and a Declaration of Intent between the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology of the State of Israel and the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser, Republic of India, on cooperation in the field of Horizon Scanning, among others.
Prime Minister Netanyahu and Prime Minister Modi reaffirmed their commitment to maintaining high-level engagement between the governments, industries, and peoples of both nations, with a shared vision of building an enduring India-Israel partnership that harnesses the ambitions of their knowledge-driven economies to forge a future defined by creativity, technology, collaboration, and shared success, the statement concluded. (ANI)
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