NEW DELHI, 6 September 2003 — During the first-ever India visit of the Israeli Premier Ariel Sharon, Palestine wants New Delhi to raise the issue of Israeli occupation of West Bank and Gaza strip.

“We ask the government of India, its people to ask him (Sharon) when he will end the Palestinian occupation and killing of hundreds of innocent Palestinian civilians,” Palestinian Ambassador Osama Musa Ali Musa said yesterday in New Delhi.

Palestine wants India to participate in an international team to monitor the implementation of the proposed road map for Middle East peace.

Crediting India for having strongly supported the Palestinian cause at the United Nations, Musa hailed India as “Palestine’s staunch ally”

Meanwhile, security concerns have prompted Sharon to cut his trip by a day. He will not visit Agra, scheduled for Monday, otherwise “there is no change in the rest of the PM’s program,” an Israeli Embassy spokesperson said.

India and Israel will not cut a deal on Phalcon radar systems but the two countries are due to sign five non-military pacts, an official said yesterday.

Sharon’s 150-member delegation includes three Cabinet ministers, businessmen and chief executives of major Israeli armaments firms.

A senior Foreign Ministry official told a press briefing that the two sides would continue discussions on the billion-dollar sale of three Israeli Phalcon Airborne Warning And Control Systems (AWACS) during the visit.

“The Phalcon sale will naturally be one of the things that will be discussed during the visit. But the deal is yet to ripen,” said the official, who would not be named.

“India and Israel will sign agreements on environment protection, fighting narcotics trafficking, introducing a visa-free regime for diplomatic passport holders, and cooperation in the field of health and medicines, along with culture and education.”

“There will be no agreements signed on defense,” he added.

The official said both countries intended to work toward countering terrorism and that an India-Israel joint working group on terrorism would meet in November.

“We are trying to work on a joint statement. We still have to get an agreed text,” he said.

Palestinian Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath while on a visit to New Delhi last week came out against proposals by Indian officials for closer cooperation between India, Israel and the United States on fighting terrorism.

In an interview published in the Hindu newspaper, Shaath said India did not need to use Israel as an “intermediary” to forge close relations with the United States.

The idea was mooted by India’s National Security Adviser Brajesh Mishra during a visit to the United States in May.

But India remains committed to the idea.

“We have gone through Mr. Mishra’s comments and find nothing wrong in them,” the senior Foreign Ministry official said yesterday.

“It was useful to have Mr. Shaath here before Mr. Sharon’s visit. He was more than satisfied that our committment to the Palestinian cause remains.”

Sharon will meet Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani on Tuesday.

The Israeli leader will receive a ceremonial welcome at the presidential palace before starting his official meetings.

Political groups, meanwhile, have warned that they will try to block Sharon from paying homage at New Delhi’s Rajghat mausoleum of Mahatma Gandhi, India’s non-violent freedom champion.

The Communist Party of India (CPI), which has traditionally supported the Palestinian cause, warned it would lead the protests at Rajghat.

India for decades had been a close ally of the Palestinians, treating Israel as a pariah state until Vajpayee’s government began warming up to Tel Aviv after coming to power in 1998.

Muslims in the western city of Bombay gathered in large numbers after Friday prayers to protest against Sharon’s visit.

Children held white banners with red letters in English and Urdu that said, “Sharon: Enemy of the people”, “Sharon should be hanged”, as they marched on crowded Mohammed Ali Street, one of the city’s Muslim enclaves.

Scores gathered around and clapped as the protesers hanged an effigy of Sharon.