India, Israel Discuss Increased Defense Cooperation
Jul. 3, 2014 - 03:27PM | By VIVEK RAGHUVANSHI
http://www.defensenews.com/article/20140703/DEFREG04/307030019/India-Israel=
-Discuss-Increased-Defense-Cooperation

NEW DELHI =97 India and Israel may reach a new level of defense cooperation =

under the new government in Delhi, with both sides discussing a list of =

defense items that could be supplied to India on a government-to-government =

basis.

Indian Defence Secretary Radha Krishna Mathur discussed the wish list with =

his Israeli defense counterparts during his July 1-3 visit to Tel Aviv, sai=
d =

an Indian Ministry of Defense official.

=93The move to strike government-to-government tie ups with Israel, as was =

done with the United States, is aimed at fast pacing the procurement of =

weaponry and avoiding the open competition route, which has been time =

consuming and laced with controversies=94 said Nitin Mehta, a defense analy=
st =

here.

The weapons wish list includes unspecified numbers of Sword Fish =

high-powered radars for ground tracking, and purchase of unspecified number=
s =

of 1,000-kilogram new generation precision guided munitions, and a variety =

of missiles.

India also wants to purchase two additional airborne warning and control =

systems from Israel, in addition to the four already contracted in 2005.

India, however, urged Israel to speed up the delayed Indo-Israeli Long Rang=
e =

Surface to Air Missile project for its recently acquired Russian aircraft =

carrier, INS Vikramaditya. The $600 million project, launched in 2005 to ar=
m =

Indian warships, is still in the trial stages whereas it was scheduled for =

induction by mid-2012. The delay has left the carrier without any =

anti-missile systems.

Email: vraghuvanshi@defensenews.com. =

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