With Israel trade talks, startups to make a debut in India’s free trade agreements.

NEW DELHI: Startups may be set to debut in India's free trade agreements. In trade pact talks with Israel, India has expressed interest in the transfer of knowhow from that country's defence and security startups.

"Israel is very keen to have a trading arrangement with us," said a commerce department official with knowledge of the matter. "Startups are Israel's strength. They've advanced technology in defence. If some kind of transfer happens, it can be a seeding input for our startups."

The arrangement would be strategic in nature as India imports critical defence technologies from Israel and there are regular exchanges between the militaries. Technology is at the core of the proposed arrangement as 98% of products traded between the two countries already get duty benefits on most favoured nation basis.

India doesn't have much to gain on the services front as language barriers will restrict domestic IT firms from generating big business in Israel. "We can have a preferential trade agreement on select tariff lines," said the official cited above.

"The process is on. We're working on a priority list with line ministries. The exchange of lists will happen by October." Besides defence and security, India will emphasise cooperation in innovation, health, education and research.

Source : economictimes.indiatimes.com