Halutz, who met his Indian counterpart S. Krishnaswamy on Thursday, was also to visit some strategic air bases and defence establishments during his four day visit, the daily Times of India said.

The paper quoted unnamed sources as saying the main aim of Halutz's visit was to apply finishing touches to the billion-dollar deal for the sale of three airborne Phalcon early warning radar and communication systems to India.

India signed the deal with Israel and Russia in October, a month after a visit to New Delhi by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

The deal was inked after a go-ahead from the United States, which had earlier blocked the sale of Phalcons to both India and China.

Israel co-ordinates its military sales with Washington because the two nations' defence industries are closely linked and often share technological advances.

Under the terms of the agreement, Israel would buy Ilyushin-76 cargo aircraft from Uzbekistan which would then be sent to Russia to be fitted with new high-powered engines.

After structural modifications, the aircraft would be sent to Israel to be mounted with cutting edge avionics and the complete aircraft would be delivered to India.

Israel in recent years has become India's second largest defence supplier after Russia, with armament sales touching 60 billion rupees (1.25 billion dollars) in 2001.

According to the Indian Express newspaper, meanwhile, a team from Israel's Mossad intelligence agency was to arrive on a "quiet" visit to India on March 3 to conduct the first field security surveillance course for the Indian army.

Officers of the Indian army's Intelligence Corps -- operating in the insurgency wracked Kashmir and rebel-hit northeastern parts of India -- will be trained by the Israeli experts at a facility in the central Indian city of Pune, the report said.

The two-week course has been designed to look at methods of intelligence gathering in insurgency-affected areas, in keeping with the challenges that Israel has faced, the report said.

Once a bitter critic of Israel, India has moved closer to the Jewish state in the five years since the Hindu right entered power here.

India established full diplomatic ties with Israel in 1992 and their co-operation has since taken off, particularly in defence.

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