Jerusalem: Ways to explore possibilities of furthering Indo-Israel defence cooperation are expected to figure in talks Indian Navy Chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta will have with top defence officials of the Jewish state during his four-day visit which began here today.

Mehta, who is the Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee, will also be meeting Israel's Defence Minister Ehud Barak tomorrow, besides Israel Defence Forces (IDF) Chief of Staff, Gabi Ashkenazi, director general of the defence ministry, Pinchas Buchris, and heads of different branches of the IDF.

"The meetings will explore possibilities of further cooperation and review ongoing exchanges between the two sides," defence sources here said, adding they "attach a lot of significance to ties with India". His visit being described by defence sources here as "protocol exchanges at the level of Navy chief" means that the chiefs of all the three wings of the Indian defence establishment have been to Israel during the last one and a half years, sending a clear message of further strengthening wide-ranging defence ties between the two countries.

India and Israel earlier this week held a Joint Working Group meeting on defence in Delhi in which the Israeli team was headed by Buchris. According to the Israeli defence ministry, India is single largest importer of its defence equipment, which constitutes about 50 per cent of Israel's defence exports and about 30 per cent of India's imports.

The Indian Air Force is likely to get four Phalcon airborne early warning radar systems (AWACS) worth 1.1 billion USDs sometime this year boosting India s reconnaissance capabilities. 

Source : PTI