India, Israel have deep defence ties
NEWDELHI:India and Israel have a long and complicated defence relationship, characterised by New Delhi keeping Tel Aviv at arm’s length till the 1990s when the two established full diplomatic ties. Since then, the two countries have warmed up to each other. Here are some milestones:
1962 and 1965: Israel provided mortars and small arms to India, which was caught by surprise by China’s attack in 1962. In 1965, faced with a US and Soviet arms boycott, India went to Israel and received similar weaponry.
1971: Indira Gandhi asked Israeli prime minister Golda Meir, for weapons to help fight Pakistan. Meir agreed, diverting weapons ordered by Iran to India. The weapons were used by Indian soldiers and the Mukti Bahini to liberate Bangladesh.
1983 : Israel offered to carry out an aerial strike to destroy the Kahuta reactor and Pakistan’s embryonic nuclear weapons programme. But the CIA informed Pakistan, which in turn warned India that it would bomb the Trombay reactor in retaliation. India aborted the mission.
1992 : Former Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao established full diplomatic ties with Israel. He later told Israeli diplomats that the main motive was to find an alternative source of arms for India at a time when its Soviet arsenal was immobilised by a lack of spares and the US sanctions on India.
1996: Israel provided technology to stabilise India’s nuclear warheads. Cooperation has expanded since then.
1999 : Israel technicians were flown in during the Kargil War to help India convert its 1,000 dumb bombs into laser-guided munitions.
2000: The US vetoed the Israeli sale of Phalcon early warning aircraft to China. Clinton administration officials recommended that Israel consider India as an alternative. India agreed to a $1 billion plus deal for the Phalcon, the accompanying Green Pine radar and the rights to use the Israeli Ofek 6 military reconnaissance satellite .
2007: Indian special forces inducted the Israeli Tavor assault rifle.
2009: The Barak 8 air defence system was sold to India for $1.1 billion.
2015: India bought a fleet of 176 Israeli-made UAVs and in 2017, India has the largest fleet of Israeli drones in the world – even larger than Israel’s.
2012-2016: India accounts for 41% of Israel defence exports
2017: Indian Air Force fighters will join Israel and five Nato air forces in the Blue Flag joint air force exercises. CAIRO: Foreign ministers from the four Arab states leading the boycott of Qatar expressed disappointment on Wednesday with the tiny Gulf nation’s “negative” response to their demands, but did not announce new sanctions against Doha.
“The response the four states got was overall negative and lacked any content. We find it did not provide a basis for Qatar to retreat from its policies,” Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said reading out a joint statement.
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and Bahrain have cut diplomatic and transport ties with Qatar, which they accuse of supporting terrorism and allying with regional foe Iran. Doha denies the charges.
Foreign ministers of the four states met in Cairo on Wednesday to discuss the situation after a deadline they gave Qatar to meet 13 demands expired.
“The political and economic boycott will continue until Qatar changes its policies for the better,” Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said at a news conference.
Regional newspapers with links to their governments had suggested the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain might be ill-inclined to accept Qatar’s response to a list of 13 demands. Qatar officials say the demands are so draconian they suspect they were never seriously meant for negotiation.