Israel’s security relationship with India is out in the open after years of being under wraps, the Israeli defence minister said on Thursday, vowing to play a bigger role in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s drive to build an industrial base.
Israel has emerged as one of India’s top three arms suppliers, delivering items such as ship defence missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles, but such transactions have been unpublicised, largely because of India’s fear of upsetting Arab countries and its own large Muslim population.
But Modi, whose nationalist party has long seen Israel as a natural ally against Islamist militancy, has openly cultivated warmer ties, beginning with a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in New York last year.
Since then, ministers and top officials have been exchanging visits and on Wednesday, Moshe Ya’alon arrived in India, the first visit by an Israeli defence minister since the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1992.
“We used to have our relationship, security wise, behind the scene,” he said in a speech in New Delhi after attending an airshow in Bengaluru.
“And now I am here … in Delhi to meet Prime Minister Modi and other ministers.” The visit comes as the two sides hold talks on a major deal for the supply of two airborne early warning radars to be mounted on India’s Russian-made aircraft.
Three such Phalcon Awacs that give the air force the “eyes in the sky” to detect flight movements across a wide arc were inducted in 2004, signalling the beginning of a strategic partnership. Israel was dissuaded from selling the same system to China because of pressure from the United States, officials said. Ya’alon said Israel was ready to share defence technology with India.
“We see India as a partner and a friend. That is why we are ready to share technology,” he said, adding that he was looking for ways to upgrade the defence relationship.
This must be worst kept secret ever. India under the late PM Nehru had recognized Isreal as a defacto state allready in the fifties. India 's policy has always been dyamic rather than static. Most of the arab countries and iran have acknowldged Isrel as a defacto state. The latter under Shah had very close relations with Israel. One can now discern us-israel-india axis. India is going to reap the fruits of this relationship.
Ex President Musharraf was alive to this and he wanted to open doors to Israel too but to no avail. His precodition was establisment of a palestinian state. It is not going to happen in the near future. Sometimes geopolitical interests should have precedence over idelogy. It is time for Pakistan to wake up and take notice. It has not many cards to play with. Israel may not be a friend of Pakistan but it is not it's enemy either.
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