Far-right Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich, who has faced sanctions and condemnation from several Western governments and the European Union for his hardline statements, arrived in India today (September 8) for a three-day visit during which he signed a Bilateral Investment Agreement (BIA) with Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
His visit takes place against the backdrop of international criticism targeting him for his extremist views.
In June, the UK, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Norway imposed sanctions on Smotrich and national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir for incitement and human rights violations. In July, Slovenia declared them persona non grata, while the Netherlands also imposed entry bans, citing their rhetoric on Gaza as supporting ethnic cleansing.
Last month, Smotrich revived the controversial E1 settlement project in the West Bank, which critics say would effectively kill the possibility of a Palestinian state. Earlier this month, he said maps were being drawn up to annex up to 82% of the West Bank, leaving only a few Palestinian population centres. He had also suggested it might be justifiable to starve Gaza’s population to secure hostage releases, remarks condemned as “appalling” by France, Germany, the UK and the EU.
There has been no comment from the Indian government, so far, on queries on the reason for hosting the controversial Israeli minister, even after India has recently escalated its concerns over the humanitarian disaster in Gaza and continues to support the two-state solution. The Modi government, which is close to Tel Aviv, has largely refrained from criticising Israel directly for the Gaza invasion, even including recent killing of journalists.
According to the Press Information Bureau, the agreement signed by Sitharaman and Smotrich provides a minimum standard of treatment to investors, safeguards against expropriation, transparency requirements, provisions for free transfer of funds, compensation for losses and an independent dispute-resolution mechanism through arbitration.
The finance ministry said the agreement would “facilitate growth of trade and mutual investments” and promote cooperation in areas such as fintech, financial regulation, infrastructure development and digital payment connectivity.
Speaking to news agency ANI, Shmuel Abramzon, chief economist at Israel’s Ministry of Finance, said this agreement will pave the way for a free trade agreement. “And there is already some discussions, pre-negotiations, I would call it, between the two countries. And that, I believe, will come in,” he added.
