India, Israel decide to share intelligence
New Delhi (PTI): In the backdrop of increased al-Qaida activity in the region, India and Israel have decided to share intelligence on regular basis as part of efforts to fight terrorism jointly.
The two sides discussed ways to effectively fight the scourge as Director General of Israeli Defence Ministry Brig Gen (retd) Pinchas Buchris held talks with the top brass of Indian military here.
During his two-day visit, Buchris held talks with Defence Secretary Vijay Singh, Army Chief Gen Deepak Kapoor, Naval Chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta and Air Force Chief Fali Homi Major.
India and Israel have established a mechanism for intelligence sharing and in the meetings it was decided to have this exchange on regular basis, Defence ministry sources said.
The Israeli Defence Ministry Chief also had a meeting with National Security Advisor M K Narayanan and Deputy National Security Advisor Shekhar Dutt.
Buchris, who headed a six-member high-level Israeli defence team, was here for a meeting of the joint working group of two countries on defence cooperation.
During the meetings, the two countries also discussed the issue of joint production of Pythen quick reaction missile.
The Cabinet Committee on Security recently cleared Rs 10,000 crore deal for joint production of these missiles in India for Indian Air Force.
Israel has also agreed to speed up supply of Travor deep inflitration weapon system for India's special forces and light fast moving patrol craft for the Navy.
Israel has emerged as India's second largest weapon supplier with arms sales almost touching five billion US dollars in 2007.
The weapon systems and platform sold by Tel Aviv to New Delhi range from Barak anti-missile systems for naval warships, loros radars, light weapons and night fighting visions to Army and Navy and other specialised equipment and sensors.
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