Bilateral Investment Treaty on the cards: INDIA AND ISRAEL

India and Israel are expected to sign a Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) during the upcoming visit of Israel's Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich this week, which would prepare a common ground for a free trade agreement (FTA) to boost trade between the two countries, according to PTI.

- 

Smotrich will be on a three-day visit to India between September 8 and 10, during which he is expected to meet his counterpart Nirmala Sitharaman, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, and Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs Manohar Lal Khattar.

Besides Delhi, the Israeli finance minister will also visit Mumbai and the GIFT City in Gandhinagar.

"The aim of this visit is to deepen Israel's economic and financial ties with India through bilateral meetings and to prepare common ground for some of the key agreements, including bilateral investment treaty and FTA," sources here told PTI.

"Both the countries have been negotiating a draft bilateral investment treaty and have concluded the negotiations. The finance ministers are expected to sign the BIT during the visit," they said.

The BIT between the two countries assures appropriate protection to Israeli investors in India and Indian investors in Israel, in light of relevant international precedents and practices.