NEW DELHI, 9 September 2003 — Ariel Sharon arrived here yesterday for the first-ever visit to India by an Israeli prime minister, hoping to cement blossoming defense and trade ties that have led to talk of a three-way strategic alliance with the United States.
He was welcomed at the airport by a crowd of flag-waving Israeli Embassy officials and by India’s minister of state of human resources, Vallabhbhai Kathiria.
“I welcomed him to this holy land of India as a new era opened in Indo-Israel relations,” Kathiria said.
Sharon arrived at 8:52 p.m. (1522 GMT) and will begin the official leg of his trip today, when he will be accorded a ceremonial welcome and hold talks with senior Indian leaders including Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee.
The Israeli leader, heading a 150-member delegation that includes major arms dealers, will visit India’s commercial capital Bombay on Thursday.
Analysts expect Sharon’s meetings with Vajpayee, President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and other Indian officials to put the seal of approval on the sale of an advanced Israeli airborne radar package.
The deal has drawn protest from India’s nuclear rival, Pakistan, which warned yesterday of the “dangerous consequences” of military ties between Israel and India.
Sharon’s huge entourage can also expect street protests by leftist and Muslim groups that note India has been a longtime supporter of the Palestinian struggle.
Maulana Syed Ahmed Bukhari, the Muslim cleric of New Delhi’s main mosque, called on “all who believe in justice and democracy” to join a protest march today.
“Sharon is the man behind all savage and brutal activities of Israel against Palestinian Muslims,” he said in a statement yesterday.
Vajpayee said yesterday he was confident Sharon’s visit would boost ties with Israel without diluting India’s support of the Palestinian cause.
“Our relations will be further strengthened,” Vajpayee said. He said New Delhi had always taken a “principled stand” on the Palestinians’ fight for a homeland.
The Israeli and Indian leaders are expected to discuss the possible sale to India of the Arrow missile defense system, developed by Israel and the United States; Iran’s reported attempts to acquire nuclear weapons; the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; and the role of radical Islamic groups operating in Pakistan and Kashmir, the disputed Himalayan province divided between the South Asian rivals.
Sharon will talk with Indian leaders about methods for fighting terrorism. The two countries have a Joint Working Group on counterterrorism.
Indian and United States defense officials met last month in Washington where they declared a “new strategic partnership.”
Israel has its own deep friendship with the Americans, prompting Israeli and American analysts to talk of a possible three-way alliance in which India’s proximity to the Gulf region could serve Israeli and US efforts to pre-empt any hostile action by countries such as Iran.
“India could be an important security partner for both the United States and Israel,” former Pentagon official Richard Speier wrote in a Sept. 3 analysis for the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
“Like them, India is threatened by the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, missiles that deliver them and radical terrorists,” Speier told the US-based think tank.
After initial doubts, the United States recently gave its blessing for India’s purchase of four Israeli-made Phalcon airborne early warning systems, at an estimated $1 billion for the package. That does not sit well with India’s nuclear neighbors, Pakistan and China.
Hamid Gul, a retired army general and former head of Pakistan’s spy agency, said Sharon’s visit and the US-approved deals were disconcerting.
“After using Pakistan as a front-line state in the war against terrorism, America has started encouraging Israel to sign new defense deals with India,” he said. “America’s policy will kill the conventional balance in the region.”
India and Israel established full diplomatic relations in 1992. Since then they have developed thriving commercial and military ties. Israeli experts say India has bought Israeli missiles, radar, communications equipment and guns, though the Israeli Defense Ministry refuses to comment.
Non-defense trade between the two countries was about $1.2 billion in 2002, with diamonds accounting for more than half, according to Israeli government data.
