In the months leading up to Indian prime minister Narendra Modi's historic visit to Israel, India signed two arms deals, spending $2.6 billion on Israeli missile defense systems.
Yet since Modi arrived in Israel on Tuesday (4), military ties -- for decades the secretive bedrock of India-Israel relations -- have taken a back seat. The governments have instead spent time discussing companies that sell medical devices, hi-tech and water systems.
Rather than making the visit, the first by a sitting Indian prime minister, all about the value of deals signed, Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Modi appear intent on playing up shared culture and values, in the hope this will give commercial ties deeper roots.
Under Arab pressure, India kept its distance from Israel for decades but is now seeing advantages in a complementary relationship with Israel. There is interest on both sides in building a broad economic base, rather than merely a contractual exchange based around defence.
The timing reflects a diplomatic shift towards Israel being more accepted in the region. Modi, who is acutely conscious of the need to adopt innovation and new technology to update India's infrastructure has always had a personal affinity for Israel and came to learn more about the country before he became premier.
"India and Israel are walking hand in hand into the future as partners," Modi and Netanyahu wrote in a joint editorial this week. "From start-ups to space, communications to cybernetics, Israel's technological capabilities are merging with India's."
The two men are spending 48 hours together with Modi, accompanied by Indian business leaders, getting a political and business tour that covers Israeli history, culture and innovation, as well as the signing of economic agreements.
HOPES FOR MORE DEALS
"What's it going to take to get Israeli money to take India seriously? Just open their eyes," Jon Medved, CEO of Israeli equity crowdfunding group OurCrowd said. "The problem is their eyes are ... blinded by the China opportunity," he added.
There have only been a handful of Indian investments in Israel over the past decade, as opposed to the $16.5 billion received from China in 2016 alone.
OurCrowd just closed three deals with India, joining with Reliance Industries for a hi-tech incubator that helps to grow young companies in Jerusalem, bringing Israeli technology to Indiawith Reliance Capital, and collaborating with India's Lets Venture to invest in start-ups.
During Modi's visit, Zebra Medical Vision, a company from a kibbutz near Tel Aviv, and Bangalore-based Teleradiology Solutions will sign a partnership to use analytics in 150 health-care centres.
Looking to reorient Israel's economy toward Asia, Netanyahu hopes more deals will follow, setting a goal of increasing exports to India by 25 percent in the next four years. But it may take a while before the Modi-Netanyahu relationship sparks a serious expansion in investment and trade, both of which remain relatively negligible.
In many respects export-dependent Israel and India, which is focused on supplying its huge population, are complementary.
Israel is a global leader in water and food systems, two critical fields India needs to upgrade.India wants to strengthen its manufacturing base and is looking to do so with technologies coming from Israel. Both countries host major diamond trading and polishing hubs.
DIAMOND TRADE SPARKLES
Israeli exports to India last year totalled $1.15 billion, excluding diamonds, just 2.5 percent of total exports. Bilateral trade was less than $2 billion, which jumped to $4.13 billion including diamonds. Israel's foreign direct investment in India totals only $100 million.
"It's nothing, it's a blip. Why hasn't the relationship grown to the level it should have?" said A. Didar Singh, secretary general of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce.
Singh said more needed to be done to ease regulations, lower non-tariff barriers and solve licensing problems.
Incentives and lifting of red tape could help overcome what diplomats, lobbyists and business owners say is a cultural divide between the breakneck pace of Israel's start-up scene andIndia's more gradual approach.
It can take time to cement negotiations in India, where building trust and a relationship is paramount, said Elias Ghosalkar, a former investment banker from Mumbai who is director of corporate development for OurCrowd after moving to Israel last year.
"Israelis on the other hand are quite direct and lack patience in their business approach," he told Reuters.
Israel's ambassador to India, Daniel Carmon, said it is becoming easier to do business between the two countries, even if there may remain some differences in practice.
"It could be that the Israeli businessman arrives on a Monday flight and wants to return on Thursday with a deal in hand. I say to him 'forget it'. It's not going to happen. There are processes, the processes take time, not four days," he said.
Starlink will next need to acquire spectrum from the government, build ground infrastructure, and carry out testing and trials to meet the agreed security requirements. (Photo: Reuters)
INDIA’s space regulator on Wednesday granted Starlink a licence to begin commercial operations in the country, removing the final regulatory barrier for the satellite internet provider.
The company, led by Elon Musk, has been waiting since 2022 for licences to start operations in India. It received an initial approval last month from India’s telecom ministry and was waiting for clearance from the space regulator.
The licence, issued by the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre (IN-SPACe), is valid for five years.
Earlier on Wednesday, Reuters reported, citing sources, that Starlink had secured the licence from IN-SPACe.
Starlink is now the third company to receive approval to enter the Indian satellite communications market. India has previously cleared applications from Eutelsat’s OneWeb and Reliance Jio.
The company will next need to acquire spectrum from the government, build ground infrastructure, and carry out testing and trials to meet the agreed security requirements.
Musk and Reliance Jio’s Mukesh Ambani had disagreed for several months over how spectrum should be allocated for satellite services. The Indian government later supported Musk’s position that spectrum should be assigned, not auctioned.
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Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) reported a 10.7 per cent drop in sales for the April–June quarter, as a temporary pause in shipments to the United States and the phase-out of Jaguar’s legacy models weighed on volumes.
The company, owned by India’s Tata Motors, sold 87,286 units to dealers worldwide during the quarter, compared to 97,755 units in the same period last year.
Retail sales dropped 15.1 per cent in the three months to the end of June, JLR said in a statement on Monday. The company cited a halt in exports to the US in April as one of the main reasons behind the decline. The pause followed the imposition of a 25 per cent duty by President Donald Trump on all foreign-made vehicles sold in the US, one of JLR's key markets.
JLR does not manufacture cars in the US. Its Range Rover lineup is produced in Britain, subject to a 10 per cent levy, while its top-selling Defender SUVs are built in Slovakia, which falls under the higher 25 per cent tariff.
North America, which accounts for around one-third of JLR’s global sales, saw a 12.2 per cent drop in volumes in the first quarter. Jaguar’s luxury sedans, SUVs and sports cars saw a 72 per cent decline in sales, falling to 2,339 units, as part of a planned wind-down of legacy models. Jaguar is set to become a fully electric brand by 2026.
Excluding Jaguar’s performance, JLR’s overall sales declined by 5.1 per cent.
In the UK, Jaguar’s sales were also affected by the phase-out of older models in preparation for its electric vehicle line-up. According to automotive trade body SMMT, British car exports to the US dropped by over 50 per cent in May. However, a new trade agreement between the UK and US is expected to support future sales. The agreement reduces tariffs on UK car exports to 10 per cent from 27.5 per cent, up to an annual limit of 100,000 vehicles.
JLR is among the top car exporters from Britain and contributes about two-thirds of Tata Motors' revenue. Both JLR and Tata Motors are expected to announce their first-quarter earnings in August.
In June, JLR revised its forecast for earnings margin before interest and taxes for the fiscal year 2026 to 5–7 per cent, down from the earlier target of 10 per cent, citing global uncertainty triggered by US tariffs.
(With inputs from agencies)
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Workers are engaged at their sewing stations in a garment factory in Savar, on the outskirts of Dhaka, on April 9, 2025. (Photo by MUNIR UZ ZAMAN/AFP via Getty Images)
BANGLADESH, the world's second-biggest garment manufacturer, aims to strike a trade deal with the US before Donald Trump's punishing tariffs kick in next week, said the country's top commerce official.
Dhaka is proposing to buy Boeing planes and boost imports of US wheat, cotton and oil in a bid to reduce the trade deficit, which Trump used as the reason for imposing painful levies in his "Liberation Day" announcement.
"We have finalised a draft reciprocal trade agreement," Mahbubur Rahman said on Wednesday (3), adding the government was "hopeful of reaching a win-win agreement".
Rahman said a meeting between officials from both countries was slated for July 8, with the US representing 20 per cent of Bangladesh's ready-made garments exports.
Textile and garment production accounts for about 80 per cent of exports in Bangladesh and the industry has been rebuilding after it was hit hard in a student-led revolution that toppled the government last year.
Trump hit Bangladesh with 37 per cent tariffs in his April 2 announcement, which is more than double the 16 per cent already placed on cotton products.
He suspended the tolls' introduction until July 9, as he did with other global trading partners, though a baseline 10 per cent levy was kept in place.
Bangladesh exported $8.36 billion worth of goods to the US in 2024, while imports from there amounted to $2.21bn, according to the Bangladesh Bank and the National Board of Revenue.
"As part of the initiative to reduce the trade gap, the government already decided to import a large volume of wheat, purchasing 14 aircraft from US manufacturer Boeing, buying cotton and more oil and gas from the US farms," Rahman said.
He did not give further details on the exact timing or extent of the proposed deals, but said the government had held around 28 meetings and document exchanges in a bid to reach an agreement.
Interim leader Muhammed Yunus spoke to US secretary of state Marco Rubio on Monday (30) and told him Dhaka was "working with your officials to finalise a package of measures to effectively respond to president Trump's trade agenda".
Mahmud Hasan Khan, president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), the national platform of the garment makers, expressed concerns about any deal.
"The already enacted additional 10 per cent tariff is hitting our exporters, and if it goes further, we might lose US buyers," he warned.
But Mohammad Hatem, president of the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA), said he was optimistic.
"We are hopeful of a positive outcome on the US tariff before July 9," he said.
"There will be a temporary problem if the US administration does not revise the tariff. But it will largely and ultimately hit the US buyers, as they would have to buy goods at higher prices."
(AFP)
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The Canary Wharf business district including global financial institutions in London.
THE COST of UK government borrowing fell on Thursday, partially reversing the rise seen after Chancellor Rachel Reeves became emotional during Prime Minister’s Questions.
The yield on 10-year government bonds dropped to 4.55 per cent, down from 4.61 per cent the previous day. The pound also recovered slightly to $1.3668 (around £1.00), though it did not regain all its earlier losses.
The movement followed comments from Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, who told BBC Radio 4's Political Thinking with Nick Robinson that he worked “in lockstep” with Reeves and said she was “doing an excellent job as chancellor.”
Analysts told the BBC that markets appeared to back Reeves, with concerns that her departure could lead to a weakening of fiscal discipline. “It looks to me like this is a rare example of financial markets actually enhancing the career prospects of a politician,” said Will Walker Arnott of Charles Stanley. “If the chancellor goes then any fiscal discipline would follow her out the door and that would mean bigger deficits.”
Mohamed El-Erian of Allianz warned that risk premiums may persist. “I suspect that we will see some moderation, but we will not go back to where we were 24 hours ago,” he said.
Reeves, who became tearful during PMQs after a U-turn on planned welfare reforms that left a £5bn gap in her financial plans, said on Thursday she had been upset due to a personal issue. A Treasury spokesperson also confirmed it was a personal matter.
Reeves told the BBC that the welfare changes would be reflected in the Budget and reaffirmed her commitment to fiscal rules. Jane Foley of Rabobank said Reeves now faces difficult choices but added, “investors do place a lot of store in political stability.”