New Delhi, Dec 22 (IANS) Counter-terrorism and intelligence sharing, delivery of weapons and enhancement of cooperation in research and development were high on the agenda as a joint working group on defence between India and Israel met here Tuesday.
India is Israel’s biggest customer for weapons and New Delhi and Tel Aviv have a growing defence relationship.

The group is co-chaired by Indian Defence Secretary Pradeep Kumar and Israeli defence ministry director-general, Brig. Gen. (retd) Pinchas Buchris.

“The main focus of the talks was on enhancing the counter-terrorism cooperation based on intelligence sharing especially after the Mumbai terror attack,” a defence official said requesting anonymity, as relations between India and Israel are rarely brought out in the public domain due to their sensitive nature. Media briefings are never held about such military or defence industry exchanges though these are growing.

This meeting followed the visit of Israeli chief of defence staff, Lt.Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi, earlier this month. During the first India visit by an Israeli chief of defence staff, Ashkenazi had met the top brass of the Indian armed forces.

India has bought military hardware and software from Israel worth about $8 billion since the 1999 Kargil conflict with Pakistan.

Despite allegations of kickbacks, India signed a contract for joint research and development projects with Israeli armament companies.

India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has inked a Rs.26 billion project with Israeli Aerospace Industries to develop supersonic 70-km range Barak-NG (next generation) missile defence system for the Indian Navy.

In 2004, India ordered three Phalcon AWACS from Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), fitted on Russian-built Ilyushin Il-76 aircraft. The first of the AWACS were inducted in the Indian Air Force in May this year.

Israel has also sold IAI Malat-built Searcher MkII and IAI Heron unmanned aerial vehicles to the Indian Air Force. The IAI recently upgraded 32 Mi-24 helicopters for the Indian Army.

Also, Rafael, the Israeli authority for development of weapons and military technology, is a major company vying for a $10 billion contract for the supply of 126 medium multi-role combat aircraft to the Indian Air Force.