PM Ariel Sharon lands in India for four-day trip, the first by an Israeli premier

Haaretz News Ticker ^ | 9/8/2003

[yonif]

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon lands in India for four-day trip, the first by an Israeli premier

[yonif]

From IsraelNN:

the first by an Israeli Prime Minister since the two countries gained their independence in the late 1940's. Included in the 150-person Israeli delegation are Ministers Limor Livnat, Tommy Lapid, and Yisrael Katz. The Israelis hope to advance many matters of diplomatic, economic, and other importance during their visit. Several thousand Jews still live in India, in several communities throughout the country.

Also

Pakistan Sends a Clear Message to Israel and India 18:45 Sep 08, '03 / 11 Elul 5763

(IsraelNN.com) Pakistan has sent a clear message to Israel and India while Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is leading a 150-person official delegation to India.

Pakistan warned Israel and India to avoid military ties at all costs, according to an AP report.

Israel and India face a common Islamic terrorist enemy

[El Laton Caliente]

Let me see the Izzies and India are going to let the Paki's dictate foriegn policy to them.

Baw Haw Haw Haw!

[anotherview]

Let us hope Prime Minister Sharon can forge closer ties with India, and let us also hope that he can convince the Indian government to stop voting with the Arabs in the U.N. Israel and India face a common enemy in Islamic extremists.

[yonif]

India is in a tight position because it has many of its citizens working in Arab countries.

[yonif]

Sep. 8, 2003
Sharon lands in New Delhi
By HERB KEINON

Prime Minster Ariel Sharon has landed in New Delhi Monday afternoon, for a three-day visit to India, the first ever by an Israeli prime minister.

The visit is meant both to demonstrate the strength of the relationship as well as give a push to further defense, cultural and trade ties between the two countries.

Sharon will be accompanied by three ministers Justice Minister Yosef Lapid, Education Minister Limor Livnat, and Agricultural Minister Yisrael Katz as well as 30 of the country's leading businessmen.

Defense Ministry director-general Amos Yaron will also be accompanying the prime minister.

Sharon is slated to meet Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh, and Defense Minister George Fernandes, as well as opposition Congress Party head Sonia Gandhi. He will be going both to Delhi and Bombay.

Zvi Gabai, the Foreign Ministry's deputy-director for Asia, said four different bilateral agreements are to be signed one having to do with environmental issues, another on health issues, another agreement that has to do with fighting drug trafficking, and a final one having to do with visa waivers for those carrying diplomatic passports.

Non-military trade between India and Israel has grown from some $ 200 million when the two countries established full diplomatic ties in 1992, to an estimated $1.6 billion this year. The military component of the relationship -- numbers which neither side are willing to divulge -- add hundreds of millions of more dollars to this figure each year.

Israel, according to a number of unconfirmed reports, has turned into India's largest arms supplier, after Russia. One Israeli official said India has supplanted Turkey as the biggest market for Israel's arms industry in the world.

It is widely expected that final details of Israel's $1.2 billion sale of three Phalcon airborne early-warning radar systems will be finalized during this visit.

[swarthyguy]

Actually, the second. Peres went there in 1992.