Peres to make three-day visit to India

Israeli Foreign Minister Mr Shimon Peres will travel to India tomorrow for a three-day working visit.

Israeli Foreign Minister Mr Shimon Peres will travel to India tomorrow for a three-day working visit.

Mr Peres is due to meet with his Indian counterpart, Mr Jaswant Singh, President Kocheril Raman Narayanan, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, Defence Minister Mr George Fernandes and opposition leader Ms Sonia Gandhi, a foreign ministry statement said.

The two countries have had diplomatic relations for the past 10 years and their annual trade exchange stands currently at close to a $1 billion.

Last month, the Israeli newspaper Haaretzreported that the US administration had in principle approved for the sale of Israeli Falcon radar planes to India.

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The report said the contract involves three advance-warning radar-equipped planes and a Russian transport Ilyushin-76 plane with an ultra-sophisticated AWACS warning system, costing $250 million.

In July 2000, former Israeli prime minister Mr Ehud Barak was forced to cancel a sales contract with China for a similar radar plane, with an option for four others, under pressure from the United States.

AFP