Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich visited the Bombay Stock Exchange and met regional officials on Tuesday, the third day of his official visit to India.
Smotrich visited the exchange together with a delegation from the Finance Ministry and Israeli business leaders, he wrote on X.
“The integration of Israeli fintech and cyber technologies into the Indian capital market, along with cooperation in the fields of capital raising and regulation, presents a tremendous opportunity for Israeli companies and for Israel’s economy as a whole,” the minister stated in Hebrew.
The Finance Ministry “will continue working to connect our business and financial sectors with leading global markets, and to strengthen Israel’s status as a technological and economic powerhouse,” he continued.
Also on Tuesday, Smotrich held a meeting with Devendra Fadnavis, the chief minister of Maharashtra, the western Indian state that includes Mumbai, which serves as the country’s financial capital.
“We agreed to strengthen cooperation in infrastructure development and human capital, including expanding the recruitment of Indian workers to Israel and promoting joint projects,” said Smotrich.
“Together, we are turning our close friendship into a practical economic partnership for both nations,” he added.
Fadnavis stated that the two held a “very nice discussion” on how Jerusalem is focusing on infrastructure projects and looks forward to hosting Indian engineers and skilled construction workers.
Smotrich was “delighted” to hear about Maharashtra’s efforts toward “training and facilitating the workers for Israel’s needs,” he tweeted.
Fadnavis in the post celebrated the signing of a bilateral investment agreement between the governments of India and Israel, which Smotrich signed during a ceremony in New Delhi on Monday.
“This landmark agreement will deepen our economic cooperation, enhance investments, and open new opportunities for growth and collaboration,” according to the Indian official.
The trade deal signed by Smotrich and his Indian counterpart, Nirmala Sitharaman, marks a significant step in strengthening the economic ties between the two countries. Israel is the first OECD member state to sign such an agreement with India as part of its new investment framework.
The new agreement replaces a 1996 accord that was canceled in 2017 as part of a broader move by New Delhi to revise its investment treaties.
The new pact is designed to promote mutual investment by providing greater certainty and protections for investors, while expanding trade and cooperation in areas such as innovation, infrastructure, financial regulation and digital services, according to Smotrich’s office.
The agreement reflects a “shared vision for innovative and secure economic development” and will “open new doors for Israeli and Indian investors, strengthen Israeli exports, and provide businesses with the certainty and tools they need to grow in the world’s fastest-growing markets,” said Smotrich.
Since Narendra Modi was elected as India’s prime minister in 2014, New Delhi has significantly strengthened its strategic, economic and defense ties with Israel, driven by shared security concerns and technological collaboration. Bilateral trade has more than doubled since 2013.
Of the 85,000 foreign workers who came to Israel to replace Palestinian labor after Hamas’s massacre on Oct. 7, 2023, 25,000 came from India.
