Posted on 06/22/2002 4:53:37 PM PDT by swarthyguy
Israel and India have been closely cooperating for several years in military defense, particularly in technological areas associated with conventional weapons and unmanned air vehicles.
India is now exploiting some of the defense technology and know-how acquired through this relationship in its deepening conflict with Pakistan. Sources reveal that India also intends to use its access to images from sophisticated Israeli spy satellites to ensure it will prevail in any hostilities with its regional rival.
The thriving Indo-Israeli defense-research relationship has become particularly sensitive in light of the emergence of India and Pakistan as unstable nuclear powers. Five years ago, when Pakistan prepared to its initial nuclear test, Islamabad feared that its test site would come under aerial attack by Indian and Israeli aircraft flying out of Indian airfields.
The US Department of State eventually confirmed that the two countries were indeed preparing a preemptive strike against the Pakistanis.
Soon after, Egyptian and Pakistani newspapers cited Arab intelligence sources who said that while India conducted five atomic tests in May, 1998, “one or more” of the detonated weapons was Israeli. The sources explained, “New Delhi tested the nuclear bombs as a favor to its Israeli partners.”
At India’s insistence, little has been publicized about the military alliance between these two most technologically advanced countries in the vast region stretching from the Mediterranean to the Straits of Malacca. New Delhi believes the secrecy is necessary because — with the world’s second-largest Muslim population and with more than 1 million expatriate workers in the Arab world — word of the relationship could create political instability both internally and externally. With Iran and the Gulf as its main suppliers of oil, India also does not want to risk alienating its primary sources of energy.
The political leadership of the nationalist Bharatiya Janata (Indian People’s) Party, or BJP, is largely responsible for strengthening Indo-Israeli ties. The pro-Hindu BJP and its predecessor, the Jana Sangh, never hid their pro-Israel bias and anti-Arab prejudice.
India shares many strategic interests with Israel. An increasing number of influential Indians are arguing that their country’s foreign policy should be guided by national interest, not by sentiment or sympathy for the Palestinian cause. Israel and India have set up joint projects in several defense-research areas, including guidance technology, special materials and electronic warfare.
India Today, an English-language daily published in Bombay, reports that cooperation in recent years has been particularly strong in intelligence technology, with Israeli signals-gathering equipment being fitted onto Indian Boeing 707 aircraft. The newspaper says there has also been covert Indo-Israeli cooperation in nuclear and missile technology for at least two decades.
India’s leading defense scientist, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, a Muslim who has become a national hero after the recent series of nuclear tests, visited Israel in 1996 and 1997. Similarly, several key Israeli scientists have been to India.
While India has a more advanced space and missile program than Israel, the latter is far ahead of India in conventional armaments and unmanned air vehicles (UAVs).
The two countries are discussing co-production of Israel’s Heron UAVs and SuperDvora MkII attack boats.
With India and Pakistan on the verge of a war — and, possibly, a nuclear exchange — Israeli is gearing up its military support to India: Last Sunday, Israeli Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer told his cabinet that the new Ofeq-5 spy satellite has transmitted its first images of the Middle East with a resolution of less than a meter. According to Middle East Newsline, Israeli officials say their government may share this new satellite capability with India.
The new Ofeq-5 surveillance satellite is one of the most advanced in the world. It completes an orbit of the earth every 90 minutes at an angle of inclination 143 degrees. The satellite weighs about 300 kilograms, is about 2.3 meters high and has a 1.2-meter diameter. The Ofeq-5’s telescopic camera system acquires images underneath and lateral to the satellite and in swaths ahead of its trajectory. Its images have a resolution of less than 0.8 meters.
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I heard a rumor of that pre-emptive strike that the author says the State Dept confirmed. Be interesting to know the ins and outs of that non-event.
This sounds like a lie.
Also it should be noted that Israel is India's second largest arms supplier after Russia, and thus there are strong ties between the two nations. And India would be not only a source of revenue for Israel froma ccrued arms sales, but also a way of force projection into the region and an ally which is close by. This by the way is the same reason Russia has shown an interest in India since it can serve as a counter-weight to China (actually Russia gave India several advanced technologies from stealth coatings...RAM absorbent coatings...for Indian fighters as well as certain targeting and radar suites).
Hence i have to say that what is going on in that region is bound to be interesting! You could almost call it a proxy war...with India and Pakistan being nuclear armed pawns in a regional conflict.
Interesting i have to say. The funny thing is that Pakistan sadly may find China as its only ally if the US decides to move to India's side completely (and France is also actively courting India since they have more income than Pakistan and thus can purchase their military tech....although i would believe India has several deals going on with Israel and Russia since the two nations sell it tech that is not 'lessened' for security reasons. For example when Russia sells India Su-30MKIs they are top of the line models with full combat capabilities, not 'monkey model' equipment the F-16As sold to Pakistan by the USA some years ago that could only fire sidewinders because the US did not deem Pakistan as 'safe' enough to sell 'tip-top' planes to....and remember some of those F-16s were not even delivered).
Anyway it will be interesting to see how things progress in this region.
Interesting how you so authoritatively state something that is speculation at best, outright slander at worst. Care to show us references for this 'fact'? And please don't bother hypothesizing.
In any case, going back to the original point I was trying to make (which I clarified in post #3), I don't believe the US State Department would have ever confirmed that report - regardless of its truthfulness.
The Pakis are not getting the Scorpene...they are getting Augustas. I am guessing that you also believe that 9/11 was just a CIA/Mossad/RAW operation to undermine the Muslim ummah?
First of all i never said the Pakistanis are not getting Agostas (not Augustas)! Pakistan has already done a deal for 3 SSK Agosta 90B submarines. However what i said in my post regarded the Scorpene SSK class....which the Pakistanis were also trying to acquire, and had the help of several French Engineers from the French DCN company. The reason they needed the Scorpene is to boost the number of submarines they have with AIP diesel propulsion (to the uninitiated AIP means 'air independent propulsion' where the diesel engines can stay longer without having to surface to recharge their electrical batteries...and the Pakistani were after the AM-2000 AIP variant on the Scorpene).
Hence i never tried to discount their acquisition of the three Agostas....just said they were also trying to acquire Scorpenes as well!
Secondly i would like to know where you 'synthesized' the reference of a CIA/RAW/Mossad operation to bring down the Twin Towers and 'discredit the Ummah!' I assume this was a vitriolic attempt to attack me (instead of merely my post if you happened to disagree with it), and it is sadly silly since i never ever hinted that there was any conspiracy regarding 9-11.....and even never went near such an event! All i said was that the RAW and Mossad had 'neutralized' some Pakistani threats....which is a good thing (at least from their perspective due to the perpetual volatility of Pakistan). I do not know where you came up with that 9-11 connection....unless you are one of those Freepers who automatically attack another Freeper who posts something they do not agree with.
And by the way i wish there was a way foir the CIA, Mossad and RAW to 'undermine the Ummah' because i am personally tired of Islam....ooops, i hope that you shall not start saying i am 'anti-Semite' because i hate Islamic Arabs who are distant relatives of jews! After all you did manage to 'link' my post on Scorpene submarines with 9-11 (although how you accomplished that 'feat' is best left to those who have the time and energy to waste in establishing obtuse linkages).
Now please provide some proof regarding your views on the Scorpenes and the French engineers.
Yeah, it's logical. But there's no evidence at all that RAW and Mossad had anything to do with it. And until there is, it behooves us to behave responsibly and not throw accusations around.
If you accuse anyone of doing something, please have evidence. Just because it would make sense for the CIA to bug Mecca doesn't mean you can go around accusing the CIA of doing that, unless you have evidence that they have - or at the very least can point to a credible source that says they have. It would make sense for Israel to incinerate Tehran and Riyadh and Baghdad - yet, these cities exist. If I decide to spread the rumor that Riyadh has been nuked by Israel, it would be irresponsible on your part to help propogate that rumor based on nothing more than the belief that it would "make sense" for Israel to do so.
In short.. try not to throw around unsubstantiated allegations. Those who do so are either stupid or have malicious agendas (thus they invite the invective upon themselves).
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