COUCHED IN POWER: Ariel Sharon has lots to cheer about his September visit COUCHED IN POWER: Ariel Sharon has lots to cheer about his September visit

India-Israel: An Intriguing Friendship

Economy

BIG MOVE: A.B. Vajpayee BIG MOVE: A.B. Vajpayee In July, Indian telecom companies signed 22 deals with top Israeli companies in telecom, Internet and mobile sectors.



...Spurt in Indian and Israeli joint ventures in software development.



...Israeli venture capitalists wrapped up $7 billion worth of deals in India.

Defence

Radar System Arriving From Israel Radar System Arriving From Israel Israel is training 3,000 Indian soldiers in anti-insurgency operations.



...India signed a $30 million deal for 3,400 Tavor assault rifles, 200 Galil sniper rfles, night vision and laser range finding and targeting equipment.



...Israel will upgrade MiG 21s, supply avionics for MiG 27s, UAVs, laserguided bombs and thermal imagers.



...2 Elta Green Pine radar systems and Phalcon Early Warning Systems arriving from Israel.



...HAL and IAI to jointly market the advanced light helicopter (ALH).

Strategic Vision

NEW ALLY: Ariel Sharon NEW ALLY: Ariel Sharon In the war on terrorism, India and Israel have increased the exchange of intelligence.



...Indian and Jewish lobbies are working together in the US to further common goals.



...The main goal: counter Islamic extremism and China.



On September 11, 2001, when Osama bin Laden's stormtroopers were crashing into the twin towers, halfway across the world India's National Security Adviser Brajesh Mishra was in the middle of a "security dialogue" with his Israeli counterpart Uzi Dayan. The TV set dominated the rest of the meeting but the event, which changed the world, changed forever the dimension of the Indo-Israeli relationship.From a diminutive defence alliance and trade partnership, the bilateral equation has evolved to encompass strategic issues of missile defence and counter-terrorism, the West Asia peace process and joint lobbying in the US.The proposed visit of Ariel Sharon to India in September, the first ever by an Israeli prime minister, is destined to give an impetus to a relationship that has remained largely under wraps for fear of hurting sensitivities. It is likely that economic ties will be the focus (Sharon plans to bring along a large business delegation) of the tour which will witness several commercial pacts and visits to Bangalore, Hyderabad and Mumbai.

Commercial relations are expanding fast and bilateral trade crossed $1.3 billion (around Rs 6,200 crore) last year - primarily in the high-technology sector. This year bilateral trade has already clocked a 30 per cent growth and India has overtaken China and Japan as Israel's biggest trading partner.

This month, a delegation of Indian telecom companies signed 22 deals with Israeli firms while a group of Israeli venture capitalists concluded almost $7 billion in business in India recently.



Meanwhile, Israeli and Indian politicians are set to exchange notes on the chaotic politics of their countries as BJP leaders along with Krishan Reddy and four Congress leaders, including, Manish Tiwari and Nachiketa Kapoor tour Israel from July 25.



However, the meat of the alliance remains in the political, defence and strategic sectors. And here, the Indo-Israeli tango has a logical backer - the US. It was the war on terror which prompted the three countries to look more closely at the common threats. Although each nation faces different threats, the overlapping of terrorist networks, their global reach and the perception that all three countries face "a common enemy" have played a key role in the evolution of the Delhi-Tel Aviv-Washington alliance.



This new vision was flagged by Mishra at an American Jewish Committee (AJC) meeting in Washington recently. He said that a "core" alliance of India, Israel and the US should tackle terrorism jointly. "Distinctions sought to be made between freedom fighters and terrorists propagate a bizarre logic," he said. It is clearly kosher (Jewish term for ritually acceptable diet) because the Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom's special envoy to Delhi, David Ivry, recently echoed it when he met the Indian leadership.



IF a strategy against terrorism is the music, the orchestra is made up of two important components: missile defence and the West Asia peace process. The former is tied in closely with the US strategic vision for this region, which is aimed at providing stability in one of the most volatile regions in the world, particularly when Islamic extremism is rampant.

Also, as the most recent Janes' intelligence report says, the alliance provides a platform for missile defence in Asia. On another note, the India-Israel-US understanding, Washington-based analysts say, serves as a counter to China, a notion very much close to the Bushies' hearts.



It is significant, therefore, that the US recently approved Israeli sale of three Phalcon Airborne Warning and Control Systems to India - technology that Washington previously prevented Tel Aviv from selling to China. Now both India and Israel are pitching for a US clearance on the Arrow missile defence system to Delhi. The Arrow deal could significantly shift the Asian balance of power in favour of India, as it would make the country less vulnerable to attacks from Pakistan or China.



It is not for nothing that the Indian-American lobby and the Jewish American lobby in the US have teamed up to persuade the administration to clear the sale. The burgeoning alliance between these two powerful groups recently inspired an amendment in the Congress requiring the State Department to certify Pakistan's compliance on terrorism to access US aid, besides, helping defeat anti-India, anti-Israel and pro-Pakistan Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney in the elections. Meanwhile, the AJC plans to open its office in Delhi very soon. It is Pakistan's worst nightmare really coming true.





ISOLATED: India's closer ties with Israel means strategic distancing from Yasser Arafat ISOLATED: India's closer ties with Israel means strategic distancing from Yasser Arafat

The new synergies between India and Israel will find their inevitable fallout in India's West Asia policy. Within the broad rubric of supporting a Palestine state, India has nuanced its stance from a uni-dimensional support for Yasser Arafat as a "symbol" of the struggle to a more balanced view, especially regarding terrorist attacks against Israel, a significant shift given India's traditional stand.In the present circumstances, when Israel and the US are bent on discrediting and isolating Arafat to promote the new Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen), India's traditional hugs-and-kisses diplomacy with Arafat may stick in the Israeli gullet.It means that any Indian leader will find all doors closed if he or she steps into Ramallah to meet Arafat, as Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov recently found.Israel stands to gain substantially from a strategic alliance with India. It enhances regional security with a partner to combat radical Islamic groups. It gains a US-approved market for its defence industry's products. In fact, the US can circumvent technology blockades by allowing Israel to channel high technology to India.Will India be able to make a shift in its West Asia policy? It may be a while before India articulates this change and Israel will not ask for a public shift. So the Indo-Israeli caravan continues to chug along, mostly out of sight but never out of mind.