'India, Israel to gain from proposed FTA'

The proposed free trade agreement between India and Israel will benefit both the countries and Indian firms should not consider the country as a threat, a top Israeli government official said today.
"I don't see any obstacles... But India has expressed some concerns about proposed FTA. We believe, Israel is not threatening India. It's a small country. Also industries which are considered big in Israel, will be considered small and medium industries in India," Israel's Director General of Ministry of Economy Amit Lang told reporters.
"I believe Indian industries should not feel threatened by Israel's industries. Since Israel is very good in innovation and India is good in services and manufacturing so we see India-Israel FTA as complimentary," he said.

Lang further said that officials from both the countries agreed to continue the negotiations.
India and Israel today discussed the proposed trade agreement between them. The trade between the two countries stood at USD 6 billion in 2013-14.
Head of the Foreign Trade Administration, Ohad Cohen, said Israel has expressed interest in sharing its expertise on water purification and waste water treatment under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's pet project for cleaning the Ganga river.
"We have invited the Indian authorities to visit Israel and meet water resource management authorities and water specialists. As it is in very very elementary stage," Cohen said.

The Centre had set a target of three years to rejuvenate polluted Ganga river and has formed an integrated plan 'Namaami Gange' in this regard.