External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Sunday said that he is looking forward to a “great visit” as he arrived here on a five-day official trip during which he will hold talks with the country’s top leadership to mutually prepare a roadmap for further enriching the strategic ties besides exploring new areas of bilateral collaboration.

This is Jaishankar’s first visit to the country as the External Affairs Minister.

“Shalom Israel! Arrived on my first visit as External Affairs Minister. Looking forward to a great visit,” he said on Twitter.

Jaishankar was received at the airport by Israel’s Ambassador to India Naor Gilon, Chief of Protocol at Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ambassador Gil Haskal and India’s Ambassador to Israel Sanjeev Singla.

The External Affairs Minister would call on President Isaac Herzog, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid during his standalone visit.

He will also be holding talks with leading academics from all over Israel, business community leaders and interacting with the Indian Jewish community.

Jaishankar will also be visiting places of historical significance to India, demonstrating its long-term presence in the region and constructive role played in shaping the history of the region.

The visit will kick off with the External Affairs Minister paying tributes to brave Indian soldiers, who laid down their lives in the region during the World War I at the Talpiyot cemetery in Jerusalem.

About 900 Indian soldiers are interred in cemeteries across Israel in Jerusalem, Ramle and Haifa.

The heroics of the Indian soldiers have prominently come to light here during the past two decades and the story of liberation of the northern coastal city of Haifa, in what most war historians consider “the last great cavalry campaign in history”, has become a household tale with its inclusion in the city’s local history textbooks.

The Indian Army commemorates September 23 every year as Haifa Day to pay its respects to the three brave Indian Cavalry Regiments - Mysore, Hyderabad and Jodhpur Lancers - that helped liberate Haifa following a dashing cavalry action by the 15th Imperial Service Cavalry Brigade.

Captain Aman Singh Bahadur and Dafadar Jor Singh were awarded the Indian Order of Merit (IOM) and Captain Anop Singh and Second Lieutenant Sagat Singh were awarded the Military Cross (MC) as recognition for their bravery in this battle.