Relations between Israel and India are solid, having developed over 42 years through secret communications the last ten of which have seen an increase in military, intelligence and commercial cooperation up to $1.6 billion. Consequently Sharon’s visit to New Delhi several days ago at an extremely critical time for the Middle East was not an ordinary one. The United States’ presence in the region under the pretext of the war on terror has created great problems for several countries in the region, notably Iran which the US considers part of the axis of evil.
Sharon’s visit to India, though seemingly intended to reaffirm the mutual struggle of the two countries against extremist Islam, is in reality a dangerous attempt to encircle the Middle East, flowing from American desires on the one hand and Jewish-Hindu sectarian interests against Islam and Muslims on the other. The official spokesman for Sharon confirmed this in a statement in the New Delhi. “Our contact with India represents an affirmation of our trilateral relationship. We are linked to the US in the global war on terror.” Thus he in effect classified Islam as the wellspring of terror and Muslims the principal elements of terrorism in the world.
Israeli-Indian dealings in the military field have already reached $2 billion and during this visit, a new $1billion military contract was concluded for the purchase of early radar warning systems and Falcon radar systems that enable India to place most of Pakistan’s airspace under close surveillance. This begs the question — Is this deal a purely commercial act on the part of Israel or is it a cover for certain political and economic demands that serve the trilateral alliance? Close scrutiny of the development of Indian-Israeli relations confirms that political and military interests are at the forefront of the relationship and that Israel stands to gain strategic benefits as a result of providing India with advanced military technology. India doubtless has a stake in this deal namely keeping Pakistan under surveillance. India, previously regarded as part of the Soviet alliance, also wants to consolidate its relations with Washington. As for Israel it is planning something for the region that merely wants to abort any peace initiative that resolves the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Not too long ago Israel requested 100 long range F-16 planes from the US which Congress immediately agreed to — even though Israel already possesses planes that are capable of reaching any Arab capital, so why the long-range planes? Quite simply this kind of plane is capable of taking off from any Israeli airbase and bombing Iran’s nuclear reactor as well as the Shehab missile manufacturing sites which are advanced Iranian missiles capable of reaching Eastern Europe (and by the same token, Israel). At the same time, the planes need a safe base on the return journey to refuel if needed and the closest would be an airbase in India.
In return for providing India with advanced military technology and further promises of providing them with an anti-missile defense system in a soon to be agreed $2.5billion deal, India must open its airbases for Israeli planes if needed in the near future. Now that Washington has occupied Iraq it wants to terminate Iran’s nuclear program using Israel so that it won’t be blamed by its Western allies who reject the use of force in dealing with such sensitive matters. There is doubtless much danger in store for the Middle East; nevertheless we must take into consideration Iran’s reaction which will be quite different from Iraq’s. Israel’s recklessness could result in a regional war that draws in a number of nations and could conceivably turn into a global confrontation.
