Israeli foreign minister to visit India next week

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar will visit India next week to meet with the country's top leadership and discuss bilateral initiatives and regional developments.

"Sa'ar will be on a two-day visit to New Delhi, November 4 and 5, and will be meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Indian counterpart S Jaishankar, among others," a source in Israel said.

Despite the turmoil in the region, there have been several high-profile visits from Israel to India over the past two years, with recent ones including those of Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, Minister of Economy Nir Barkat, Agriculture Minister Avi Dichter, and Tourism Minister Haim Katz.

India and Israel signed a Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) during the visit of Finance Minister Smotrich in September to deepen economic and financial ties, and to assure investors from both sides of appropriate safeguards in light of relevant international precedents and practices.

The agreement increases the comfort level and boosts the confidence of investors by assuring a minimum standard of treatment and non-discrimination, while providing for an independent forum for dispute settlement through arbitration.

The BIT also provides for protection to investments from expropriation, transparency, transfers and compensation for losses.

Israel has signed BITs with over 15 countries since 2000, including the UAE, Japan, the Philippines, Thailand, South Africa, etc.

Barkat visited India in February with a large economic delegation.

Israel has also been seeking India's help in overcoming an acute shortage of workers in various sectors. The number of Indians now working in Israel is estimated at close to 40,000.

Several thousand more are expected to join the Israeli workforce in the coming months.

Jaishankar and Sa'ar earlier met in February on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference and discussed US President Donald Trump's vision of connecting Asia, Europe, and the United States through Israel.

The two leaders also addressed the challenges posed by attacks on trade routes by Yemen's Houthis and Iran.

It is noteworthy that during the G20 summit in 2023 a project to link infrastructure from India to Europe, connecting Asia through the Middle East to Europe was announced that was described by the Israeli Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu as the "largest cooperation project in our history" that will "change the face of the Middle East, Israel, and will affect the entire world".

Trump had later expressed interest in enlarging the scope of the project, taking it right up to the United States.