We are hoping for Israel PM's visit to India next year: Israeli envoy Naor Gilon

By Ayushi Agarwal
New Delhi [India], December 15 : Israeli Ambassador to India Naor Gilon expressed hope that Benjamin Netanyahu will visit India after he becomes the nation's Prime Minister. He stated that Netanyahu's visit will boost the negotiation of a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between India and Israel.
"We are working on an FTA (with India) for a long time now. When Dr Jaishankar was in Israel, he spoke about the need to go forward. We are hoping to have a visit of our Prime Minister next year," Gilon said.
He further added, "PM Netanyahu is going to make it to the office soon probably and then we will try and work with him. I am sure he has the wish because of the friendship with PM Modi and his high admiration for India, and I believe that if the PM will be coming, it will be a boost for the negotiation of the FTA."
He highlighted that the Israeli Prime Minister will first visit the United Arab Emirates to emphasize the importance of change in the Middle East Abraham Accords. Gilon emphasised that the Middle East is setting aside the Palestinian issue and focusing on its ties with Israel.
"I believe that he already mentioned his intention of going to the UAE first in order to emphasize the importance of change in the Middle East Abraham Accords. The fact that the landscape of the Middle East has really changed in the last few years. India is part of it because I believe that the idea of setting aside the Palestinian issue and concentrating on the bilateral relationship with Israel," Naor Gilon said.
Gilon further said, "It is not that the Palestinian issue is gone but it's not the thing that will define our bilateral relations. That's what India did and that's what other countries in the Middle East are doing today. Secondly, because of I2U2, India coming into trilateral cooperation because of its close relationship with from UAE to Israel. So, I think that visit is important and after that hopefully, there will be a visit to India."
The UAE, Bahrain, and Morocco established official ties with Israel as part of the US-brokered Abraham Accords in 2020. Notably, Netanyahu's Likud Party and its ultra-Orthodox and far-right partners secured a majority of seats in the Knesset or parliament in elections held on November 1.
Israeli Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu will have until December 21 to form a new government after getting a 10-day extension on Friday. Speaking about the I2U2 summit, Naor Gilon said that there is a plan for meeting in the next year's first quarter and then we will see if there is a need for the summit.
"Last time it was done virtually when President Biden was in Israel, there is already for the first quarter of the next year planned meeting of the working level together with companies and everything and after that, we will see if there is the need for the summit. First of all, our efforts are into implementing the two projects that we already took upon ourselves in food security and clean energy and we are already working and putting into the pipeline new projects in order to create moment-to-moment continuity," said Gilon.
Hailing the relationship between the two countries, the Ambassador said that he is proud of cooperation between the two nations and that the friendship will continue for many years to come.
"The friendship and support of India and Israel started many years ago and will continue for many years to come. We are close in many fields. I am proud of the cooperation we are having and I am more proud of the cooperation we will be doing in the future," Gilon said.