First round of India-Israel FTA negotiations begins in New Delhi ahead of PM Modi’s visit

India kicked off the first round of the Free Trade Agreement talks with Israel on Tuesday (Feb 24), after Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal held a meeting with Israeli negotiators who are in New Delhi for the deliberations. These talks are scheduled to take place until February 26. Goyal hailed the meeting as an important step towards enhancing bilateral trade and economic cooperation.

"Met a delegation from Israel today, visiting India for the first round of India-Israel Free Trade Agreement negotiations (23rd-26th February 2026). The FTA negotiations mark an important step towards enhancing India-Israel bilateral trade & economic cooperation, aimed at creating greater opportunities for businesses and people on both sides," Goyal wrote in a post on X.

During the maiden round, the talks are expected to be centred around trade in services, rules of origin, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, technical barriers to trade, customs procedure and trade facilitation, intellectual property rights, among others, the Commerce and Industry Ministry said in a release.

Chief Negotiator of India, Ajay Bhadoo, Additional Secretary, Department of Commerce, reiterated the significance of this engagement for the two countries and encouraged both sides to work on a balanced agreement to build a forward-looking framework for an evolving partnership, the release said.

Chief Negotiator of Israel for the FTA, Yifat Alon Perel, Senior Director Trade Policy & Agreements and Deputy Trade Commissioner, Foreign Trade Administration, Ministry of Economy and Industry, Israel, expressed that the two countries shared a close relationship, and that the FTA has the potential to strengthen supply chains, enhance cooperation and open new markets for both countries.

The negotiation of the trade deal began days ahead of Prime Minister Modi's scheduled two-day visit to Israel on Wednesday. Confirming the visit Indian PM on Sunday hailed “the deep bond between India and Israel” and the multi-dimensional nature of bilateral relations. The trip marks his first visit to Israel in his third term and his second overall since 2017. During his visit, he is slated to address the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, and is expected to sign multiple agreements in the areas of defence, technology and trade.

In a post on X, Modi expressed appreciation for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s welcoming words, saying, “India attaches great importance to the strong and enduring friendship with Israel, a friendship based on mutual trust, innovation and a shared aspiration for peace and progress.”

Netanyahu also announced that Modi’s trip would help forge a new alliance to counter what he described as “radical” adversaries.

Also Read: DGCA cracks down on VSR after Ajit Pawar's plane crash, all Learjets grounded

“In the vision I see before me, we will create an entire system, essentially a ‘hexagon’ of alliances around or within the Middle East,” the Israeli leader said.

“This includes India, Arab nations, African nations, Mediterranean nations (Greece and Cyprus), and nations in Asia that I won’t detail at the moment,” Netanyahu said, adding that he will further elaborate on his plan in the future.

“The intention here is to create an axis of nations that see eye-to-eye on the reality, challenges and goals against the radical axes, both the radical Shiite axis, which we have struck very hard, and the emerging radical Sunni axis,” he added.