Wednesday, March 24, 2004
Indian, Chinese defence officials for greater ties with Israel
Press Trust of India Tel Aviv, March 24
Indian and Chinese defence personnel have called upon for greater cooperation with Israel in dealing with low intensity conflicts (LIC) in their respective countries.
Officials from 20 countries are participating in a three-day international conference on LIC in Tel Aviv, which has 38 presentations dealing with diverse subjects such as 'protecting roads and settlements', 'deception, communications and intelligence operations in low intensity conflict".
Brig Chander Prakash, leading the Indian delegation said "we have 14 years of experience in dealing with insurgency and Israel has been doing the same.. There is definitely something to learn from each other.
"They (Israelis) have better technology which prevents largescale collateral damage. They also coordinate better with their ground forces. Mutual exchange of our experiences will help us both deal better with our respective conflicts."
Six Chinese defence officers were unanimous in saying that the experience gained from Israel will stand them "in good stead" in dealing with problems in the Xinkiang province.
"Israel has a very systematic way of dealing with the problem backed by a highly developed technology", they said.
When asked about the chilled relations between the two countries after Israel cancelled the Phalcon deal under US pressure, the Chinese officials said, "It was unfortunate, but things are back on track. The visit of Director General Amos Yaron to China last week was a major step towards restoration of normal defence ties with Israel".
An Israeli defence official called the conference an exercise at "sharing experience".
"The lessons learnt by us during the last 42 months of conflict is not much different from any other country embroiled in such problems".
The conference is being accompanied by an arms show by all the leading Israeli defence manufacturers. Items on display include early warning systems, bomb discovery and removal devices and night vision equipment.
The conference also prominently touches upon the "code of conduct" governing the armed forces in LIC. Israel has developed a special software dealing with the subject to facilitate imparting of such knowledge to each and every soldier involved in the conflict.
© Hindustan Times Ltd. 2004.