Friction with Pak. crops up in Indo-Israeli ties

By Kesava Menon

MANAMA (Bahrain) SEPT. 28. It was bound to happen and was only a question of when. So far, the relations between India and Israel had been free from public scrutiny of how it would be affected when the latter finally comes to terms with Pakistan and whether the Indo-Pakistan friction, that has strained India's relations with almost every other country, would affect the decade-long friendship with Israel as well. A report in Haaretz, based on very fragile premises though it be, has come as the first sign of a debate that is bound to intensify in the future. The report, by a usually well-informed correspondent, states that officials in the Israeli Foreign Ministry are chary of the defence establishments' effort to sell the Phalcon airborne early warning system to India. It is reportedly not just the possibility of U.S. displeasure that disquiets the mandarins of the Israeli Foreign Office. They are reportedly worried that the Phalcon sale to India will further embitter China's attitude towards Israel and jeopardise the prospects of establishing relations with Pakistan - a country they view as one of the largest and strongest in the Islamic world. Pakistan, according to the unidentified officials spoken to by Haaretz, could be so incensed by the Phalcon sale that it could mobilise the Islamic world to pressure the Palestinians to take a tough stance on Jerusalem and other issues still being negotiated with Israel.

The report is on firmer ground when it relates how the Phalcon sale to India could affect Israel's ties with China. This displeasure would only deepen if the Israelis were to sell the same system to a country that the Chinese has reason to regard as a regional rival. At the same time, however, the possibility that India will deploy the Phalcon system against China is apparently not given great consideration probably because the chances of a military confrontation between India and China are fairly remote. The fast-building India-Israel military supply relationship has many components and Israel cannot afford to disturb this by refusing a particular sale on the basis that it would annoy Pakistan.

Such a rationale is bound to rouse India's ire and even jeopardise the military supply relationship. Israel knows that India has become one of the major consumers for its defence industry while India, can still look to other suppliers like Russia and France. In fact, the strategic affairs community in Israel has been urging the Government to resist the U.S. pressure to stop the sale of the Phalcon to India.

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Section  : International
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