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GLOBAL NEWS THE INDO-ISRAELI COLLABORATION: A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE Ti: state of Israel came into being on 14 May 1948 with the support of Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Indian Prime Minister. Owing to its relationship with the Arab world, India took some time in the formal recognition of Israel in 1950. Besides maintaining good relations with the Arab world, India also maintained a covert relationship with the Israeli state. The former Israeli Defence and Foreign Minister, Moshe Dayan, is regarded as the linchpin of this Indo-Israeli relationship. Ever since 1950, both countries have been interacting covertly, while keeping their strapping bilateral relationship at low profile. It was only in 1992 that India established its formal diplomatic relationship with Israel. Currently, both countries are enjoying an excellent relationship at economic, military and strategic levels. Indo-Israeli military collaboration has rapidly expanded over the years, and, by 2009, bilateral military trade between the two countries reached USS9 billion. India is now the largest customer for Israeli military hardware and the second largest economic partner. Both are undertaking joint military exercises/training and cooperating in space technology. t is worth mentioning that India and Iran are strategic allies. India is also strengthening its strategic relationship with the Arab world and the Central Asian states. This indeed is a unique combination of establishing relationship with the enemy of Arabs and vice-versa. n recent years, there has emerged another angle to this collaboration: the Indo-Israeli joint collaboration with Afghanistan. In the garb of re- construction, India has made lots of inroads and investments in Afghanistan. [There is a reported presence of Israelis—Mossad operatives particularly—in the northern and northwestern provinces of Afghanistan, bordering Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. Indeed, the Indo-Israel collaboration with Afghanistan is aimed at enhancing ingress in Afghan society, especially with the youth and political leadership, to shape their mindset against Pakistan. Furthermore, it is designed to make ingress into the Afghan National Army (ANA) to stimulate them to act against Pakistan for creating a threat on its western borders. It is also aimed at further reinforcing the RAW [Research and Analysis Wing, India's external intelligence agency] network to destabilise Pakistan through covert intelligence operations. RAW and Mossad, along with the Northern Alliance and the Afghan intelligence set-up, are helping anti- Pakistan terrorists and extremists to destabilise Pakistan. The massive Indian investment in Afghanistan has a long-term aim to encircle Pakistan. It is pertinent to note that Indian defence collaboration with the ANA has not been able to guarantee the security of Afghanistan, but it has destabilised Pakistan to the utmost. Now it is up to the people of Afghanistan to recognise their friends and foes. After all, 30 million Afghans have the right to question their government as to why India and Israel have all of a sudden become so sympathetic to them. There exists neither any religious affinity nor any other parallel between them and Afghanistan. Rather, both countries have a poor record of accomplishment in Kashmir and Palestine alike. (Source: by Dr Raja Muhammad Khan, posted on 13 July 2010 at http://www.opinion- maker.org/2010/07/indo-israeli-collaboration-a-different-perspective/. Dr Khan has a PhD in international relations from the University of Karachi, Pakistan. Presently he is an associate professor at the National Defence University, Islamabad. He is a regular contributor to www.Opinion-Maker.org.) IRANIAN SCIENTIST PRESSURED INTO LYING ABOUT NUKE SECRETS A Iranian scientist, who says he was abducted 14 months ago and taken to the United States by the CIA, claimed that he had been pressured into lying about his country's nuclear program. Shahram Amiri was returned to Tehran in July o a hero's welcome. Mr Amiri was on the Hajj pilgrimage when he was seized a gunpoint in the city of Medina, drugged and taken to the US, where e says Israel was involved in his interrogation. In the US, officials have admitted hat Mr Amiri was paid more than USS5 million by the CIA for information about Iran's nuclear ambitions and are clearly embarrassed by his very public return to Iran. (Source: The Independent, 16 July 2010, http://tinyurl.com/26wwttx) USA TO GIVE ISRAEL A MEGA MILITARY HANDOUT he United States plans to provide Israel with its most extensive military aid package in history. The US Assistant Secretary of State, Andrew J. Shapiro, claims that he increased US military assistance should help Tel Aviv reach tough decisions in peace talks with the Palestinians. Speaking at the Brookings nstitution's Saban Center for Middle East Policy in Washington, DC, Shapiro said that the US plans to bolster Israel's security by providing unding for the Iron Dome anti- missile system. He said that since srael is facing some of the toughest challenges in its history, US President Obama's administration as asked Congress for nearly US$2.775 billion in security assistance funding "specifically for srael" in 2010. "It is the largest such request in US istory," he added. (Source: PressTV.ir, 17 July 2010, http://tinyurl.com/2dymf2b) the NEXUS ¢ 9 AUGUST - SEPTEMBER 2010 www.nexusmagazine.com