India-Israel Kick-Off FTA Negotiations Ahead Of PM Modi's Israel Visit

Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's second state visit to Jerusalem, India and Israel have begun the first-round of free trade agreement negotiations to provide certainty and predictability to businesses, including MSMEs.

This comes after a Terms of Reference (ToR) was signed in November 2025 establishing a structured framework for discussions on identified areas to enhance trade, and economic cooperation.

The overall merchandise trade between the two countries stood at USD 3.62 billion in FY 2024-2025.

"India and Israel share complementarities across several sectors, and the FTA will be a catalyst to further enhance the bilateral trade by providing certainty and predictability to businesses, including MSMEs," according to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

The sectors expected to benefit from this pact are technology, manufacturing, agriculture and services.

The first round of negotiations for the India-Israel Free Trade Agreement (FTA) commenced on 23 February 2026 in New Delhi and is scheduled to take place until 26 February 2026.

Total merchandise trade between the two countries stood at USD 3.62 billion in FY 2024-2025. India and Israel share complementarities across several sectors, and the FTA will be a catalyst to further enhance the bilateral trade by providing certainty and predictability to businesses, including MSMEs.

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During this round, technical experts from both sides will engage in sessions covering various aspects of FTA such as trade in goods, trade in services, rules of origin, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, technical barriers to trade, customs procedure and trade facilitation, intellectual property rights, among others.

During the opening session, Commerce Secretary, Rajesh Agrawal, underscored that the FTA negotiations had begun at an opportune moment of Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi's visit to Israel from 25-26th February, 2026. Shri Agrawal

Commerce Secretary, Rajesh Agrawal, underscored the significant opportunities available to both sides in sectors such as innovation, science and technology, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, high-tech manufacturing, agriculture, and services. Further, he emphasized that the FTA would enable both countries to harness and fully leverage these opportunities.

Meanwhile, a top official at the Ministry of Economy and Industry, Israel, expressed that the FTA between both countries has the potential to strengthen supply chains, enhance cooperation and open new markets for both countries.