India and Israel will hold another round of negotiations, by the end of March, on signing the Free Trade Agreement, FTA to achieve a bilateral trade figure of 10 to 15 billion US dollars per year.

The two countries had decided on the FTA during the recent visit of External Affairs Minister S M Krishna to Tel Aviv.

Speaking on the occasion of 20 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries, Israeli Ambassador to India Alon Ushpiz told PTI that there will be another round of negotiations by the end of March and both sides will do their best to sign the FTA agreement by the end of this year.

Mr. Ushpiz also said that Israel would soon open a Consulate in Bangalore to focus on activities such as homeland security and high tech agriculture.

External Affairs Minister SM Krishna had visited Tel Aviv early this month, the first such trip to that region by an Indian Foreign Minister, in over a decade.