ANKARA

India and Israel signed a bilateral investment agreement on Monday aimed at boosting trade between the two countries.

This is the first such deal India has signed with a member of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Israel said in a statement.

The deal was inked during far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s visit to India, where he met his Indian counterpart Nirmala Sitharaman in New Delhi.

Bilateral trade between Israel and India reached nearly $4 billion last year.

Earlier this year, Indian and Israeli military officials agreed to strengthen bilateral defense cooperation with a “long-term perspective.”

India and Israel are strategic partners. In 2022, the two countries marked 30 years since the elevation of ties to full diplomatic relations.