India-Israel Relations

From Israel:- FM Shimon Peres (May 1993); President Ezer Weizmann (Jan 1997); FM Shimon Peres (Jan 2002): PM Ariel Sharon (Sep 2003); and FM Silvan Shalom (Feb 2004); Vice Prime Minister and Minister for Industry, trade and labour, Ehud Olmert in 2004.

From India:- Speaker Shivraj Patil (Nov 1994); EAM Jaswant Singh (July 2000); Minister of State for Science and technology,Mr. Kapil Sibal (June 2005); Minister of State for Rural Development,Kumari Sheilja (September 2005); Minister of Agriculture, Mr. Sharad Pawar (November 2005) and Minister of Commerce and Industry,Mr. Kamal Nath (November 2005).

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Economic and commercial relations: Since establishment of diplomatic relations in 1992, bilateral trade and economic relations have commercial progressed rapidly. From a base of US$ 200 million comprising primarily of diamonds in 1992, merchandise trade has diversified and increased rapidly reaching US$ 1,594.1 million in 2003. With the exception of 1995 and 2001, trade volumes have grown every year. While diamonds constitute about 65% of India's exports to Israel, other major products are textiles, chemicals, rubber and plastic products, machinery, base metals, prepared foodstuffs and transport equipment. Major items exported by Israel are diamonds, machinery, chemical products and optical, medical and other equipment. Below is a chart showing bilateral trade in the last seven years (in US$ million)

Bilateral trade increased by 16.5% from US$ 2145.6 million in 2004 to US$ 2500.5 million in 2005. Indian exports to Israel increased by 15.3% from US$ 1107.7 million in 2004to US$ 1276.3 million in 2005, while Israeli exports to India increased by 17.9% from US$ 1037.9 million in 2004 to US$ 1224.2 million in 2005.

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Investment and technology cooperation In terms of approved investments, during the period 1991- 2003, Israel, with Rs. 42,460 million in approved investments for 96 proposals, was the 14th largest foreign investor in India. Israel is also a source of technology collaborations for Indian companies. Since 1991, over 73 technology collaboration agreements have been approved between Indian and Israeli companies. Approved investment and technology collaboration proposals include inter alia, sectors such as agriculture, IT, telecom, bio-tech, medical equipment and chemicals. An MOU on cooperation in R&D in the electronics and IT sector was signed in January 2002. India has become an attractive destination for telecom investments by Israel.

Agriculture Israeli side has completed a Demonstration Farm project in PUSA at a cost of US$ 2 million. The private sector in India has also shown interest in accessing Israeli technologies and JVs have been set up for manufacture of drip irrigation systems and in the areas of floriculture and horticulture.

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S&T The India-Israel Joint Work Programme of S&T cooperation for 2003 and 2004 identified 20 new projects for joint development in focus areas like nanotechnology, genomics and S&T policy management, of which only 9 projects on genomics were pursued due mainly to limited funding available on the Israeli side. Since S&T Cooperation began in 1994, there have been 37 joint projects and 10 joint conferences/seminars so far. During Israeli Science Minister Sandberg’s visit to India in December 2003, both sides agreed to go in for a comprehensive S&T agreement, and to allocate adequate funds for joint projects to enhance the scope of work for 2005-06 Joint Work Programme.

Training The Israeli MFA’s Centre for International Cooperation, known as MASHAV, has conducted activities in diverse fields with India. These include courses in various fields in India (62 courses have been conducted since 1992, which were attended by 2300 trainees), including health, agriculture, education and management. Israel has also been inviting a number of Indians for training at its institutions/facilities (since 1992, over 900 Indian trainees attended courses in Israel) including in areas like agriculture, community development, medicine and public health, management, science and technology, and education.

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Culture & tourism India is known in Israel as an ancient nation with strong cultural traditions, and the Israeli people perceive India as an attractive, alternative tourist destination. Israeli youth are particularly attracted to India. About 30,000 Israelis, mostly youth who have finished military service, visit India annually. The level of understanding of and knowledge about India is growing, in some measure as a result of India's economic advancement and image as an important centre for hitech as well as the contribution of individuals like Zubin Mehta. While the number of pilgrims and tourists from India visiting Israel touched 17,000 in 2000, due to the deterioration in the security situation, this number has fallen to around 10,000.

Civil aviation : An Air Services Agreement was signed in April 1994. The Israeli national carrier, El Al, currently flies twice a week to Mumbai, while Air India started flying from February 1996 on the Mumbai-Tel Aviv-Mumbai sector twice a week but discontinued its Tel Aviv flight on commercial considerations from 1 April, 1998. Tour and travel operators have sought to fill the gap by operating chartered flights for Israeli tourists.

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Indian community: There are approximately 70,000 Jews of Indian origin in Israel today. Most of them are Israeli nationals. A majority of them are engaged in agriculture or work in the new development towns outside the traditional urban centers. The main waves of immigration into Israel from India took place in the fifties and sixties. The majority are from Maharashtra and smaller numbers are from Kerala and Calcutta. The older generation still maintain an Indian lifestyle and their cultural links with India, while the younger generation is increasingly assimilated into Israeli society. The resident Indian community of about 500 Indian citizens includes diamond traders, some IT professionals, students and unskilled workers. There is a Central Organisation of Indian Jews, which brings together a large section of Indian Jews.