Lapid Meets Indian Minister of External Affairs

Foreign Minister Yair Lapid met Monday with Indian Minister of External Affairs Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Yerushalayim.

The ministers decided in their meeting to renew negotiations on a free trade area agreement between the countries in November, with the aspiration that the agreement will be ready for signature by the middle of 2022.

Additionally, the ministers agreed on mutual recognition of vaccination certificates as well as to expand cooperation in the areas of water and agriculture, which in recent years have become a central anchor of the relations between the two countries.

Lapid said, “I thank my friend, Dr. Jaishankar, for his visit to Israel, a visit which is a precursor of events which will take place next year to mark 30 years of bilateral relations between India and Israel.

“We are continuing with our policy of connections, and we have found in India a very important ally for many years. India also brings with it new opportunities for cooperation.

“In the last year, we have dealt, India and Israel, with the COVID-19 pandemic, and we have helped one another during this crisis. This is how friends and partners behave.”

Following the meeting of the foreign ministers, a signing ceremony was held marking Israel’s accession to the ISA (the International Solar Alliance, founded in 2015 on the initiative of India and France), which will allow Israel to contribute its knowledge and experience to the organization.

At the end of the signing ceremony, Lapid and Jaishankar traveled to visit the Shalva Center, a center caring for children with disabilities and providing support to their families.