AFP,
The director general of the Israeli defence ministry held talks Monday with Indian officials on arms procurement and other cooperation, an Indian defence ministry source said.
Major General Amos Yaron met with the chiefs of the Indian army, air force and navy.
“He is leading the Israeli side in the delegation level talks. The meeting is focusing on arms procurement, joint military research and industrial cooperation in the defence sector,” the source told AFP.
Yaron will also meet Indian Defence Minister George Fernandes during his two-day visit.
India in October signed a one billion-dollar deal to buy from Israel three Phalcon airborne early warning radar systems, which rival Pakistan has warned could trigger an arms race in South Asia.
The Phalcon agreement came a month after Ariel Sharon paid the first visit by an Israeli prime minister to India.
India, a longtime supporter of the Palestinian cause, established diplomatic relations with Israel only in 1992. Since then Israel has become India's largest defence supplier apart from Russia with annual sales topping one billion dollars.
Separately, Israeli Science and Technology Minister Eliezer Sandberg and Aby Har-Even, director general of the Israel Space Agency, began a three-day visit to India Monday.
They are due to sign an agreement to put Israel's Tauvex space telescope on India's GSAT-4 satellite.
