India, Jan. 6 -- Amid deepening strategic ties and discussions around Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between India and Israel gaining momentum, the State Bank of India (SBI), the only Indian bank with a presence in Israel, is looking to facilitate bilateral trade in Indian rupees.

"In view of India's significant trade flows from/to its partner countries and growing interest among the global trading community to trade in the Indian rupee, it has been envisaged by our banking regulators, iE Reserve Bank of India, to permit Indian banks to facilitate settlement of exports and imports of their respective corporate clientele in INR. Israel has been identified as one of the partner countries under this mechanism," CEO of SBI Israel, V Manivannan, ...