New Delhi, July 5 (IANS). The historic Bilateral Investment Agreement (BIA) signed between India and Israel on September 8, 2025 officially came into force from Saturday. This agreement is being considered an important step towards strengthening economic relations between the two countries and creating a safe, transparent and reliable investment environment for investors.
The Finance Ministry said in a statement that this agreement provides strong protection to investments and investors, while on the other hand it also gives sufficient powers and flexibility to governments to take policy decisions related to public interest.
According to the Ministry, this agreement has been drafted keeping in mind the modern principles of international investment law and the evolving judicial approach.
The government believes that the implementation of this agreement will accelerate cross-border investment activities between India and Israel and the economic partnership between the two countries will be stronger than before.
It is noteworthy that this agreement was signed on 8 September 2025 in New Delhi in the presence of Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.
According to the official statement, this agreement will provide greater security and certainty to investors. It will also provide a minimum level of investment protection to promote trade and mutual investment and a system of independent arbitration for resolution of disputes.
The agreement includes important arrangements such as protection from acquisition of investments, ensuring transparency, smooth transfer of investment funds and fair compensation in case of losses. Along with this, special attention has also been paid to maintaining a balance between protecting the interests of investors and the regulatory rights of governments, so that sovereign policy decisions are not affected.
The government says that this agreement is likely to significantly increase bilateral investment between the two countries. At present the total bilateral investment between India and Israel is about $800 million, which is expected to get a further boost through this agreement in the coming years. This will benefit the companies and economies of both the countries.
During the signing of the agreement, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said that the industries of both the countries should increase mutual business contacts to take advantage of new investment opportunities. At the same time, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich had said that despite security challenges, both the countries have achieved strong economic growth and this similarity brings the two countries closer.
The Finance Ministers of the two countries also reiterated their commitment to further economic cooperation in areas such as fintech innovation, infrastructure development, financial regulation and digital payment connectivity.
–IANS
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