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India spins on its own axis Indian officials have told the media that stronger India-US relations and India-Israel relations have a natural logic as the three countries are prime targets of terrorism and have "a common enemy". So the need of the hour is a "joint action", they added. But Israeli officials in New Delhi have not confirmed this. All they would say is that the Sharon visit would be "very important" and "it is an opportunity for the two countries to enhance cooperation in economic and many other fields". Israel, however, stands to gain substantially from a strategic alliance with India. It may enhance its regional security with a partner to combat and at least inform on radical Muslim groups. It gains a US-approved market for its defense industry's products. Israel has persuaded the US that it can counter the impact of Chinese technological advances on the region by allowing Tel Aviv to channel high technology to India and thus circumvent technology transfer blockades. India and Israel already share a growing security relationship that has been nurtured with US help. The axis has already started functioning, according to officials. Observers maintain that the triad is growing fast and the axis acquired new strength when Washington gave the go-ahead for Israel to sell three Phalcon Airborne Warning and Control Systems to India in a deal worth over US$1 billion. This is technology that Washington previously prevented Tel Aviv from selling to China. The George W Bush administration is also on the verge of approving the more-expensive sale of Israel's Arrow anti-missile system, which was developed jointly with the US. The Arrow deal would significantly shift the Asian balance of power in favor of India, as it would make the country less vulnerable to attacks from both Pakistan and China. Confirming this trend last month Christina Rocca, US Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia, stated that the US has "a really dynamic military cooperation [with India] that is part of a broader ... all-encompassing relationship". She, too, will be visiting New Delhi soon. While the US is also concerned over Muslim terrorism and has been benefiting from Indian help, primarily in intelligence sharing, the Bush administration has a broader agenda in supporting such an alliance. Washington wants to use India as a counterweight to China, which it sees as its main competitor in Asia. Also, it wants to establish military bases in India. This became apparent recently from a 153-page Pentagon report titled "Indo-US Military Relationship: Expectations and Perceptions", prepared by analyst Juli A Macdonald for US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. More immediately, the US wants India to send at least 20,000 troops to help its occupation forces in Iraq. New Delhi mooted the doctrine of an India-Israel-US axis with a commitment of evolving a joint strategy to fight international terrorism during national security adviser Brajesh Mishra's recent visit to Washington, officials said. India has been in contact with several American and Israeli leaders subsequently, lobbying for formation of this triad, and the issue will be taken up during Sharon's visit, beginning from September 9, the first by an Israeli prime minister. Mishra is considered an alter ego of Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. A former diplomat, he has been guiding for over a decade the foreign policy of the Hindu fundamentalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that leads a ruling coalition of 25 parties. According to Mishra's doctrine of the triad, the proximity between the three countries has been "growing as they are all democracies, sharing a common vision of pluralism, tolerance and equal opportunity". Addressing the American Jewish Committee's 97th annual dinner meeting in Washington, DC on May 8, Mishra complained, "It is most unfortunate that some diversionary arguments are still preventing a consensus on important anti-terrorist conventions. An agreed definition of terrorism still eludes the international community. Distinctions sought to be made between freedom fighters and terrorists propagate a bizarre logic, which glorifies massacres of one set of innocent civilians, while condemning killings of others. Another fallacy propagated is that terrorism can only be eradicated by addressing its 'root causes'. This is nonsense. Terrorist attacks against innocents have no justification. Democratic societies, which address the 'root causes' of alienation and anger through pluralism and socio-economic justice, are precisely the targets of terrorism." Making a fervent plea for the new axis, in the presence of an important European ally in Washington, Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar and a large number of American Congressmen, he said, "As the main targets of international terrorism, democratic countries should form a viable alliance against terrorism and develop the multilateral mechanisms to counter it. Such an alliance would have the political will and moral authority to take bold decisions in extreme cases of terrorist provocation. It would not get bogged down in definition and causal arguments about terrorism. Blocking financial supplies, disrupting networks, sharing intelligence, simplifying extradition procedures - these are preventive measures which can only be effective through international cooperation based on trust and shared values. "A core, consisting of democratic societies, has therefore to gradually emerge from within our existing coalition, which can take on international terrorism in a holistic and focused manner. It would ensure that the global campaign against terrorism, is pursued to its logical conclusion, and does not run out of steam, because of other preoccupations. We owe this commitment to our future generations." The proposal reportedly received plaudits from all present at the meeting. Mishra is not alone in making this plea. India's Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Lal Krishan Advani chose Israel as the destination for his maiden trip abroad as a minister of the present government. Speaking during this visit in June 2000, he said, "We share with Israel a common perception of terrorism as a menace, even more so when coupled with religious fundamentalism. Our mutual determination to combat terrorism is the basis for discussions with Israel, whose reputation in dealing with such problems is quite phenomenal." To avoid displeasing Israel, he did not go to Syria or any other Arab country after visiting Israel, though he had planned for the same earlier. Undaunted by the prospects of touching raw Arab nerves, he openly called for greater cooperation between India and Israel in the military and nuclear fields. In an interview given to Fox News on July 9, 2002, Advani said, "Terrorism in so far we have seen it on September 11 or December 13, 2001 - [the date on which the Indian parliament was attacked by terrorists] - has a common source and that common source has described the US, Israel and India as its three main enemies." The obvious implication is that the three countries therefore have a common cause and should forge a common front against terrorism. Israel is one of the few countries with which India conducts regular discussions on counterterrorism within the framework of joint working groups. In fact the day the terrorists struck the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, Israel's national security adviser Major General Uzi Dayan was holding high-level discussions on terrorism with top Indian officials, including Brajesh Mishra in New Delhi. The visit was a part of the ongoing strategic dialogue between the two security establishments. The alliance between India and Israel is based predominantly on military and intelligence cooperation. Israel has provided India with sea-to-sea missile radar and other similar systems, border monitoring equipment and night vision devices. It also has upgraded India's Soviet-era aircraft. During Sharon's visit, several agreements are expected to be signed, including on defense cooperation, suggesting that Israel may reach the level of Russia in providing arms to India. Almost one half of Israel's total military sales last year of $4.2 billion went to India. India-Israel commercial relations, too, are expanding fast. Bilateral trade crossed $1.3 billion last year, primarily in the high-technology sector, rising from just $200 million in 1992-93 when India accorded full diplomatic relations. India's traditional exports to Israel (almost 70 percent) include rough diamonds, gems, jewels and gold ornaments. The share of drugs, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, cotton yarn and fabrics is increasing rapidly. This year bilateral trade has already clocked a 30 percent growth and India has overtaken China and Japan as Israel's biggest trading partner. A delegation of Indian telecom companies signed 22 deals with Israeli firms in July, while a group of Israeli venture capitalists concluded almost $7 billion in business in India recently in the fields of telecom and the Internet. Advani has reportedly asked Israel to provide India with the latest anti-insurgency devices, spy equipment, and the latest-developed finger-print-deciphering powder (a yellow powder that is more effective than the magnetic powder). He also asked for torture and surveillance equipment, eagle-eyed long distance snipers, observation blimps, giant shields, night vision devices, cross-border-snooping devices and spy-training equipment. India's purchases of defense hardware - contracted or expected - include Radar for AWACS, seven Barak ship-based anti-missile systems, Python-4 air-to-air missiles, maritime patrol aircraft (joint venture), submarine simulators, Greenpine Radar systems (capable of detecting ballistic missiles hundreds of kilometers away), Arrow-2 missiles to counter ballistic missiles, electronic systems for the Indian aircraft carrier INS Virat, Tavor assault rifles and Galil sniper rifles. The cooperation extends to avionics for SU 30 MKI and MiG 27s, upgrading India's MI-8/MI-17 helicopters, Jaguars and the Indian army's 130mm artillery guns (to 155mm), and rescuing the ailing main battle tanks (Arjun), light combat aircraft and an integrated guided missile project. Israel is fencing sensitive areas in the Indian part of Jammu and Kashmir state under command of the HQ 15 Corps, Srinagar. Israel is reportedly training 3,000 Indian soldiers in "counter-insurgency" operations. India has a large requirement for satellites for communication, weather forecasting, cartography, military surveillance and other work. Improved technologies can always be of help as a better satellite can have a bigger payload, allowing more equipment to be sent up. Space surveillance technology is thus likely to be a prime area of talks with the Israeli delegation led by Sharon. Some of the spadework has already been done by Dr K Kasturirangan, who heads the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). He went to Israel last month for discussions on issues related to joint satellite making and optical satellites. Israel appears to be keen to share its satellite-making technologies with India. India currently makes digital cameras that pick up what is going on from 560 kilometers above the Earth's surface. The cameras can provide resolution up to 1 meter though if there is a crisis, sub-meter resolutions are also possible. This can be done by lowering the satellite, but this cuts down on the fuel it carries, and therefore reduces its life. The military, especially after the 1999 Kargil war with Pakistan, has been calling for 1-meter resolution satellites or less. The ISRO's technological experimental satellite has that ability. Such photographs can also be purchased from commercial satellites like Ikonos, but they are prohibitively expensive. There are persistent, though unconfirmed, reports that Advani has been working on covert cooperation between India and Israel in the nuclear field. In July 1979, Israel is said to have proposed to the Carter administration a plan for destroying the Pakistani research center at Kahuta by either internal sabotage or by sending unidentifiable planes through India to bomb it, the way in which it had earlier bombed Iraq's Osirak reactor. But the US government is said to have rejected the proposal. New areas of India-Israel cooperation that are being talked about include development of means to enhance power projection - particularly in terms of air and naval forces; ballistic missile defense systems including exploration of boost phase intercept technologies; cooperation in contending with nuclear, chemical and biological threats from non-state actors; and development of effective second strike capabilities (particularly sea and submarine-borne), essential for any credible no-first use nuclear policy. The India-Israeli alliance, however, can only be meaningful if it has the US blessing. Washington, of course, has its own strategic designs for India and the region. Going by the National Security Strategy of the US, a document released on September 20, 2002, India holds a very prominent place in the American scheme of things. According to Robert D Blackwill, US ambassador to India until recently, this is "a policy document that bears the personal stamp of President Bush". It states, "The United States has undertaken a transformation in its bilateral relationship with India. We are the two largest democracies. We share an interest in fighting terrorism and in creating a strategically stable Asia. We start with a view of India as a growing world power with which we have common strategic interests." In an article in a major Indian newspaper, The Hindu, Blackwill wrote, "Taken together our defense cooperation and military sales activities intensify the working relationships between the respective armed forces, build mutual military capacities for future joint operations and strengthen Indian military capability, which is in America's interest." He concluded the article, "An Indian military that is capable of operating effectively alongside its American counterparts remains an important goal of our bilateral defense relationship. What we have achieved since January 2001 builds a strong foundation on which to consummate this strategic objective, which will promote peace and freedom in Asia and beyond." It would thus appear that the newly-formed axis has a good future. But it is not being universally welcomed in India. Indeed, the media are full of criticism on a variety of counts. When Mishra had first spoken of this axis, the main opposition Congress party talked of the ruling BJP's "strange obsession" with Israel. Veteran journalist and former editor of the Indian Express, Ajit Bhattacharjea, finds it ironic that Indian leaders want to reflect on the horrors of the September 11 terrorist attacks in the company of "a man [Sharon] who has made a career of using terror to achieve his goals". He goes on, "I do not know if those who invited him to come on that date are aware of his record or, for that matter, the record of the state of Israel. If so, they must have a rare sense of irony. To appreciate it fully, we need a look into the history of Israel and its latest prime minister." Thus, after a long time, the Indian media are talking about the horrors perpetrated by Israeli terrorist groups - Irgun Zvai Leumi, the Stern Gang, Haganah - that were in their time as notorious for their brutality as any terror groups today. India is reading about how on July 22, 1946 an entire wing of the King David Hotel in Jerusalem was blown up, killing 91 people, and how the state of Israel was created by terrorist gangs. Exhausted by World War II, London was preparing to hand over power to autonomous Arab and Israeli areas in Palestine, while retaining a central section, when it bowed to terror as Irgun blew up the British officers club in March 1947, killing 14. It is also talking about the horrors of Deir Yassin, Sabira, Shatila and many other massacres of Palestinians perpetrated by Israeli forces led by Sharon and his predecessors. One of the main questions being asked is specifically directed to the BJP and its mentor Rashriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS). How come from being traditionally unabashed admirers of Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany, they have now become great admirers of their victims, the Zionists of Israel? This one is, however, easy to answer. Hindu fundamentalists were never against Jews per se. They admired Hitler for the way in which he tackled minorities. Critics of the government are also missing one vital point. Apart from helping it out in meeting its military and other strategic needs, Israel is the only country that can teach India how to cope with the kind of society that the BJP is determined to create. With suicide bombings and terrorist attacks in several parts of the country becoming routine, some of which, particularly from the northeast, going largely unreported, it is imperative that India learns from Israel its fortitude, resilience and determination to survive. Where else but in an American Jewish Committee's meeting in Washington, DC, would Mishra have been applauded for saying that addressing root causes of people's alienation and anger amounted to justifying terrorism? Apart from raising moral objections to the emerging axis, critics are also raising questions of strategy. Would it be proper for India, for instance, to play the US game and act as a strategic counterweight to the emerging superpower in our neighborhood, China? It certainly would not and if Vajpayee's approach to China, as reflected during his recent trip to Beijing is any indication, he has no desire to do so. Apparently the government's critics do not set much store by the prime minister's adroitness in establishing strong ties with mutually incompatible players at little or no cost to India's interests. If New Delhi can maintain close strategic ties with Israel and the US, while also maintaining equally close strategic ties with a country designated evil by both of them, Iran, why should one doubt its ability to also include China also in the list? After all, India has been able to condemn the US-led coalition's invasion of Iraq through a unanimous resolution in its parliament and refuse to send troops to support the US occupation, while at the same time keeping Washington engaged and hopeful that New Delhi would eventually send the second largest military contingent to help it maintain its occupation of Iraq. It is in this spirit of managing contradictions that 10 days before Sharon was to visit, India invited Palestinian Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath for a tete-a-tete. Shaath may have gone back empty-handed, according to press reports, but New Delhi has made its point: India will remain engaged with the Arab world, while seeking to strengthen the newly-formed axis with Israel and the US. Tightrope walking is a game every Indian loves to play. (Copyright 2003 Asia Times Online Co, Ltd. All rights reserved. Please contact content@atimes.com for information on our sales and syndication policies.)
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