"One of the elements is going to be technology, innovation in our comprehensive partnership with Israel": Piyush Goyal

Speaking to the media during his Israel visit, Goyal said, "We have just entered into the Terms of Reference yesterday. Now we will look at all the different elements and one of the elements could be a startup bridge between Israel and India."

A key pillar of the partnership will be technology-driven collaboration. Highlighting this, Goyal noted, "One of the elements is going to be technology and innovation in our comprehensive partnership with Israel."

The Minister said India sees substantial room for collaboration to advance its own startup ecosystem. "I believe we can collaborate with Israel to promote our own startup ecosystem, aspiring to take it to the levels of deep tech and high-quality innovation at competitive prices, given the economies of scale that India has to offer. We are looking at a deep partnership with Israel."

"India aspires to become the startup capital of the world in the years ahead. There's a lot of excitement in Israel amongst the startups, amongst their innovators and businesses to work with India, a country which provides scale, a country which provides opportunities for the future," he said.

He highlighted multiple sectors where collaboration could flourish, including cyber security, mobility, climate action, green steel and med-tech.

"I do think that whether it is cyber-security, whether it's mobility, whether it's action against climate change, problems like producing steel with less carbon, or it is the med tech devices sector. I think India and Israel can work together, can partner together, and innovation will find purpose, innovation will find scale, innovation will become the new way of working and living. We have just entered into the TOR yesterday. Now we'll look at all the different elements," he added.

On November 20, India and Israel formally signed the ToR to begin negotiations for a Free Trade Agreement (FTA). (ANI)