Sharon lays wreath at Gandhi memorial

ISRAELI Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, launched his historic visit to India by laying a wreath yesterday at the memorial of the nation’s great peacemaker, Mahatma Gandhi.

After the ceremonial welcome amid tight security and nationwide street protests against Sharon, the first Israeli premier to visit India then turned to an agenda of trade, counter-terrorism and military hardware. Sharon hopes to seal the €850 million sale of an advanced airborne radar.

Sharon placed a wreath and threw rose petals on the New Delhi memorial of Gandhi, the father of India’s independence movement who was assassinated by a Hindu fundamentalist in 1948. India’s neighbour and chief rival, Pakistan, warned that a military alliance between Israel and India would be “dangerous.”