Delhi rolls out red carpet for Sharon

NEW DELHI: In the first ever visit by a top Israeli leader, PM Ariel Sharon will arrive here Monday to open a new chapter in relations between the two countries. Accompanied by three of his cabinet colleagues, Sharon will call on President Abdul Kalam and have meetings with PM Vajpayee and Deputy PM Advani.
Several members of the Vajpayee cabinet will call on him to discuss issues of mutual interest.The Israeli leader will meet leader of opposition Sonia Gandhi as well. He will visit Mumbai later.
The three members of his cabinet accompanying him are his deputy Yosef Lapid, minister for education and culture Limor Livnat and agriculture minister Yisrael Katz. The areas which will be under focus during the talks are growing bilateral trade, exchange of agro technology, defence and security concerns.
A government release on the eve of the visit termed both countries as ''''two ancient civilisations which are today modern parliamentary democracies''''. The trade between the two countries reached an impressive US $ 1.27 billion last year.