Home secretary Rajiv Mehrishi, agriculture secretary S K Pattanayak, water resources & river development secretary Amarjeet Singh, DW Ssecretary Parameshwaran Iyer, secretary of department of industrial policy and promotion (DIPP) Ramesh Abhishek, secretary defence production A K Gupta and science & technology secretary Ashutosh Sharma will fly to Israel with Union minister of state M J Akbar next week to engage with their Israeli counterparts to thrash out a whole range of issues that may go into the making of several bilateral treaties. This marks a significant change from the MEA-PMO led foreign visits that have been the norm. The objective of this exercise seems to provide ownership to the ministries concerned for the agreements to be signed between the Indian and Israeli Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv in July this year. It is believed that the prior visit of secretaries to Israel would not only add substance to the agreements to be signed but will also sort out differences of opinion if any. While defense and security may still steal the top slot in the agenda of discussion between the two countries, Modi's visit may also include cooperation on water issues. Although Israel is already a major player in India's agriculture sector, the establishment of more centers of excellence in agriculture and water technology may be added. India and Israel signed a water agreement in November 2016 that was to focus on desalination. But sources in government say they plan to expand their canvas to include water conservation by way of using technology to generate and protect water sources.