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Sharon kicks off India trip with tribute

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, left, throws rose petals over the tomb of Mohandas Gandhi in New Delhi yesterday. Sharon is on a four-day visit to India to expand military and political exchanges between the two countries. PHOTO: AFP

Israel Prime Minister Ariel Sharon launched his historic visit to India by laying a wreath yesterday at the memorial of the subcontinent's great peacemaker, Mohandas Gandhi.

After the ceremonial welcome amid tight security and street protests against Sharon, the first Israeli prime minister to visit India then turned to an agenda of trade, counterterrorism and military hardware. Sharon hopes to seal the US$1 billion sale of an advanced airborne radar.

"I hope this visit, the first by an Israeli prime minister, will help us to move forward and accomplish all the things that we believe in," Sharon said. "We regard India as one of the most important countries in the world. ... We share our belief in democracy."

Sharon placed a wreath and threw rose petals on the memorial of Gandhi, the father of India's independence movement who was slain by a Hindu fundamentalist in 1948.

Following Sharon's arrival Monday for a three-day visit, India's neighbor and chief rival Pakistan warned that a military alliance between Israel and India would be "dangerous" and harm peace in the region.

"I hope this visit, the first by an Israeli prime minister, will help us to move forward and accomplish all the things that we believe in."

Arial Sharon, Israeli prime minister

"Such a collaboration should be avoided at all costs," Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman Masood Khan said.

Several hundred demonstrators marched yesterday through the capital, beating their chests and shouting slogans against Sharon. "Israeli Hitler Go Home," read one placard. "Stooge of US Empirialism, Sharon Go Back," read another.

The US is applauding the state visit, the first by an Israeli leader since India opened ties with the Jewish state in 1992, and may be looking toward a three-way strategic alliance in the region.

"We are always glad when our friends make friends with each other and work together," US Department of State spokesman Richard Boucher told reporters.

However, Washington might oppose Israeli efforts to provide India with technology -- some developed jointly with the US -- that could tilt the military balance in the region and upset US allies, such as Pakistan, in the global war on terrorism.

Leftist and Muslim groups say the Israeli leader has no place in the land of Gandhi.

Indian leaders have always supported the Palestinian struggle for self-rule, long before India and Israel gained independence from Britain more than half a century ago.

The country's major Muslim organizations and chief clerics called for street protests yesterday, accusing the Israeli leader of being a "war criminal."

Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee said he was confident Sharon's visit would boost military and trade ties with Israel without diluting India's support of the Palestinian cause.

"This is a historic visit. I'm confident that as a result of this visit, the two countries will come closer," Vajpayee said after the ceremonial welcoming yesterday.

Sharon's visit comes as the US-backed "road map" to establish a Palestinian state by 2005 crumbles and violence in the Middle East escalates.

In India, many see the burgeoning relations with Israel as advantageous to their rapidly developing nation.

The countries have developed thriving commercial and military ties. Israeli experts say India already has bought Israeli missiles, radar, communications equipment and guns.

Bilateral trade grew to US$1.27 billion last year, mostly in diamonds, agricultural machinery and chemical products, according to the Indian government.

Indian and US defense officials met last month in Washington, where they declared a "new strategic partnership." Israel has its own deep friendship with the Americans, prompting analysts to talk of a possible three-way alliance in which India's proximity to the Persian Gulf region could serve Israeli and US efforts to pre-empt any hostile action by countries such as Iran.

After initial doubts, Washington recently gave its blessing for India's purchase of four Israeli-made PHALCON airborne early warning systems, at an estimated US$1 billion. That does not sit well with India's nuclear neighbors, Pakistan and China.

Sharon was scheduled yesterday to meet with Vajpayee, President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and India's deputy prime minister, foreign minister and national security adviser.

The Israeli and Indian leaders were expected to discuss the possible sale to India of the Arrow missile defense system, developed by Israel and the US. Also on the agenda is 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.

India has been battling an Islamic insurgency in its portion of Kashmir since 1989. More than 63,000 people have been killed in the struggle for an independent Kashmir or one merged with Islamic Pakistan.

In Kashmir, predominantly Hindu India's only Muslim-majority state, some scorned the Sharon visit.

"So far as Kashmir is concerned, Israel and India couldn't have more in common," said Q. Ahmad, a bank executive. "Both are cooperating with each other to suppress self-determination movements which they term as combatting terrorism."

After another full day of talks today, Sharon and his delegation tomorrow plan to fly to India's financial capital, Mumbai, to meet with business leaders and members of the city's small Jewish community before heading back to Tel Aviv.
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