India, Israel gear up naval ties

NEW DELHI, Aug. 8 (UPI) -- India and Israel stepped up mutual cooperation between their navies to expand their defense relationship.

The two countries also agreed to give a greater thrust to current projects like the upgradation of Indian naval Sea Harrier jump jets and the joint development of the advanced Barak anti-missile defense systems, said a senior Defense Ministry official.

He said these issues were discussed during a meeting between visiting Israeli Chief Vice Adm. David Ben Bashat and his Indian counterpart, Adm. Suresh Mehta. The chiefs of the Indian army, Gen J.J. Singh, and the air force, F.H. Major, were also present at Wednesday's meeting.

India has purchased defense equipment worth more than $5 billion from Israel over the past five years. These range from handheld thermal imagers and Barak anti-missile defense systems, aerostat and green pine radars to Heron and Searcher-II unmanned aerial vehicles, the official said.

Last year India purchased military hardware and software worth $1.5 billion from Israel. New Delhi remained the largest defense customer of Tel Aviv in 2006. Besides, the two countries are engaged in various research and development projects relating to defense, intelligence and security, the official said.