India and Israel are set to conclude a broader agreement on cooperation in the renewable energy sector between the two countries. This follows earlier agreements between the two countries to work on the renewable energy sector.

And the bilateral talks on Free Trade Agreement are likely to be back on track early next year, according to Daniel Carmon, Israeli ambassador to India.

He said the FTA talks slated to be held during November 2014 could not be held due to other engagements. But they are poised to be taken up gain as both the Governments are committed to reaching a consensus on the agreement.

Speaking here after an interactive session on boosting ilateral trade, he said that the India-Israel trade which had humble beginnings at $2,00,000, a little over 20 years ago, has now topped the $6-billion mark and this is poised to get a lot bigger as both countries get into more areas of mutual interest.

The $6 billion bilateral trade is without the defence business, which is another big area.

Israel has developed strong and sound relationships in the defence sector and work is underway to identify a few other clusters of common interest.

During his two-day visit to Hyderabad, and interactions with representatives of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana governments, the Amabassador sees potential to work in the areas of improving agriculture and horticulture, irrigation and water supply management and homeland security.

There have been several rounds of discussions with Andhra Pradesh in particular and soon this will be narrowed down to some areas.

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