Released on September 8, 2025
Israel and India have signed a bilateral investment agreement to expand mutual trade during Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Sumotrich’s trip to South Asian countries.
The agreement, signed in New Delhi by Sumotrich and India’s Corporate Affera Sitharaman, aims to boost trade and investment flows between the two countries. Sitharaman highlighted the need for greater collaboration in “cybersecurity, defense, innovation, and high-technology.”
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The agreement was marked “an important strategic step in our joint vision,” said Smotrich, who was approved by several Western countries for links to illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.
“The agreement reached today between Israel and India reflects our economic growth, innovation and mutual prosperity,” he writes in X.
“The agreement opens new opportunities for investors in both countries, strengthens Israeli exports and provides businesses with the certainty and tools to grow in one of the world’s largest and fastest-growing markets.”
India’s Treasury Ministry described the transaction as a “historic milestone,” adding that it will promote cooperation in “fintech innovation, infrastructure development, financial regulation and digital payment connectivity.”
This deal arises as Israel’s war of massacre with Gaza sparked global rage. More than 64,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel launched its brutal war with Gaza in October 2023.
Official figures show that bilateral trade was $3.9 billion in 2024, but the current mutual investment is worth around $800 million. However, most of the trade between the two countries is in the realm of defense and security, and New Delhi is Israel’s largest arms buyer.
Last year, Indian companies sold Israeli rockets and explosives during Israeli Gaza War, an Al Jazeera investigation revealed.
The agreement comes as New Delhi approaches Israel despite growing political isolation over the war on genocide with Gaza. India was one of the first countries to reach out to Israel since October 7, 2023, and has denounced Hamas-led attacks on Israel as “an act of fear.”
Indian authorities have cracked down on Palestinian protests, allowing pro-Israel rallies, and in some cases committed crimes.
India still supports the so-called two-state solutions for resolving Israeli-Palestinian conflicts, but is awaiting several UN resolutions that have criticised Israeli violations of rights against Palestinians.
In 2024, India also abandoned the UN General Assembly vote for a “immediate, unconditional, permanent” ceasefire in Gaza.
While Indians make up Israel’s largest group of foreign students, Israeli construction companies are seeking permission to hire up to 100,000 Indian workers to replace Palestinians whose permits were revoked after Israel launched a brutal war in Gaza in October 2023.
India has also refused to condemn Israel’s war with Iran and refused to support the Shanghai Cooperation Agency (SCO)’s criticism of the Israeli attack. However, after President Donald Trump’s 50% tariffs on India that came into effect late last month, New Delhi signed this month an SCO declaration denounced Iran’s bombing of US Israel.
India also used New Delhi as a counterweight for Beijing to move to revise its ties with rival China, due to years of US policy.
China and India should be partners rather than rivals, Chinese national president Xi Jinping told Modi about a bystander at the SCO summit in Tianjin.
