As a tangible demonstration of the growing Indo–Israeli technological cooperation, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Directorate of Defence Research and Development (DDR&D), Ministry of Defence, Israel have entered into a Bilateral Innovation Agreement (BIA) to promote innovation and accelerated R&D in startups and MSMEs of both countries for the development of dual-use technologies. 

The agreement was signed between the Secretary, Department of Defence, R&D & Chairman DRDO, Dr G Satheesh Reddy, and Head of DDR&D, Israel BG (Retd) Dr Daniel Gold in New Delhi on 9 November 2021.

Under the agreement, startups and industries of both countries will work together to bring out next-generation technologies and products in areas such as Drones, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Quantum technology, Photonics, Biosensing, Brain-Machine Interface, Energy Storage, Wearable Devices, Natural Language Processing, etc. 

Products and technologies will be customised to meet the unique requirements of both countries. DRDO and DDR&D, Israel, will jointly fund the development efforts. As a result, the technologies developed under BIA will be available to both countries for their domestic applications.

This is not the first time that both countries have decided to collaborate. Last year, both India and Israel discussed carrying out joint research and development in the field of big data and artificial intelligence. 

Collaborations with other countries in the past have yielded positive results through cultural exchange programmes, academic partnerships, and trade. India can now transform chances into advantages by focusing on areas where it excels and enhancing general health and performance.