By Sultan M Hali

Source: "Pakistan Observer"

Israel’s Army chief, Major General Avi Mizrahi secretly visited Kashmir last week (September 2008).

Indian authorities remained tight-lipped about the visit, neither confirming nor denying, however, the lid was blown by Iranian News Agency, IRNA.

Earlier, Major General Avi Mizrahi, had arrived in New Delhi on September 9, on a three-day visit, where he met his counterpart Indian Army chief General Deepak Kapoor and also minister of state for defence production, Rao Inderjit Singh, chiefs of India’s navy and air force and discussed joint military training and exercises for the two armed forces.

Israel has offered to train Indian troops in counter-insurgency and anti-terrorist operations. General Mizrahi’s visit to Kashmir comes in the backdrop of a massive anti-India agitation in Indian-Occupied Kashmir.

At least 50 persons have been killed in the uprising that began two months back with the tensions still high. India and Israel have shared defense co-operation since diplomatic relations between New Delhi and Tel Aviv were established in 1992.

The ties have become stronger in recent times with India emerging as the largest purchaser of Israeli arms since the beginning of the 21st century.

India has purchased the Phalcons Airborne Early Warning and Control Systems from Israel that would be fitted onto the Indian Air Force’s three IL-76 heavy-lift transport aircraft. It has also bought the Green Pine radars that warn of incoming enemy ballistic missiles.

The Indian armed forces also use Israeli unmanned aerial vehicles for intelligence, reconnaissance and surveillance. The Indian Army uses Israeli night-vision equipment, particularly in Kashmir.

Indian troops in occupied Kashmir have been armed with Israeli made Travor assault rifles to crush the Kashmiris’ righteous struggle. The TAR-21 Travor rifle costing around $6500 is one of the most modern assault rifles available in the world.

According to Kashmir Media Service, the rifles are part of India’s strategy to use them during siege and search operation in civilian areas in the disputed territory.

It may be recalled that last year in October, a delegation of senior Israeli army officers secretly visited the violence hit Kashmir.

Israeli army officers, during their visit to Kashmir, undertook real time testing of the sophisticated equipment sold by Israel to the Indian army.

The wide array of Israeli-made surveillance devices, ranging from unattended ground sensors and Hand-Held Thermal Imagers (HHTI) to Long-Range Reconnaissance and Observation Systems and the Battle Field Surveillance Radars and the Surveillance Grid have been deployed by the Indian army along the LoC to keep a check on the infiltration of militants from the Pakistani side of Kashmir.

The Indian Army has installed new and sophisticated surveillance equipment in the border district of Kupwara, Kashmir, to keep a check on the movement of “infiltrators”.

The system, named Surveillance Grid, was imported from Israel. The equipment has been installed at selected points prone to infiltration. The Surveillance Grid is the first monitoring system of its kind in South Asia.

The surveillance grid makes combined use of high-power cameras, thermal sensing cameras and long range observation system (Loros) to monitor all types of movements at and across the border with Pakistan.

The Israeli army delegation reviewed the functioning and effectiveness of the equipment in Kashmir.

The Israeli army delegation also shared with Indian army officers and men, their experiences of tackling infiltration and militancy in Palestinians areas.

The Israeli army has been training Indian army personnel to fight militancy in Kashmir.

After real time testing, the Israeli officers assessed the role of the gadgets and checked their effectiveness.

This was the second trip for Israeli army officers, to the strife-torn state within four months. Earlier, in the month of June, 2007 an Israeli army delegation led by its Deputy Chief of General Staff, Major General Moshe Kaplinsky visited Jammu.

During their stay in Jammu, the Israeli army commanders visited the border areas to check the functional compatibilities of a large amount of military equipment, procured from Israel and installed close to the LoC.

The Indo-Israeli defence ties are increasing and there are reports that it was on the advice of Israeli army commanders that India fenced with barbed wire the 720-km-long LoC with Pakistan to check the infiltration of militants from across the border.

India and Israel have a lot in common. The partition of India and its freedom from colonial rule set precedence for nations such as Israel, which demanded a separate homeland because of the irreconcilable differences between the Arabs and the Jews.

The British left Israel in May 1948, handing the question of division over to the UN.

Un-enforced UN Resolutions to map out boundaries between Israel and Palestine has led to several Arab-Israeli wars and the conflict still continues.

A major difference between the two colonial endeavours, however, is that in the first case, no Palestinian state has yet emerged even after 60 years, despite the stipulations of international law.

In February 1947 Mountbatten was sent out as Viceroy to India. He oversaw the process of partition of the Indian Sub-continent; meddling in the process in such a way that Jammu and Kashmir would inevitably go to India regardless of the sentiments of the indigenous population by allocating the Gurdaspur district of the Punjab to India. Had Gurdaspur gone to Pakistan, there would have been no land-route connecting India to Kashmir.

Just as in Palestine, the British role appears to have been deliberately designed to bypass the right of the indigenous Kashmiri population to self-determination.

In this respect, the parallel between Palestine and Kashmir is quite obvious. In both cases, British colonial manipulation resulted in the violation of the right of a people to self-determination, and the blocking of the emergence of a legitimate independent state.

The secret visit of the Israeli Army Chief to Indian-occupied Kashmir is ominous as it foments trouble for the Kashmiri freedom fighters and their cause. The strife-torn Valley has been yearning for freedom and peace, but Indian authorities are not only bent upon trampling their rights but also take aid from Israelis.