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India, Israel to focus on joint R&D in defence (Rajat Pandit,1/02/08, TNN)

There may be a few hiccups, political or otherwise, along the way but India and Israel will now 'further intensify' their already robust defence ties, which saw New Delhi do military business worth over a whopping $7 billion with Tel Aviv since the 1999 Kargil conflict.

From man-portable miniature UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) and advanced radars to missile systems and electronic warfare suites, the two nations have decided to focus on more and more joint R&D projects rather than just continue with a mere buyer-seller kind of relationship, said sources.

This came at the end of the Indo-Israel joint working group (JWG) on defence, co-chaired by defence secretary Vijay Singh and his Israeli counterpart Brigadier-General (retired) Pinchas Buchris, on Monday and Tuesday. India, of course, is already Israel's largest defence customer, with purchases worth $1.5 billion in 2006 alone, displacing even the US to the second spot with $1 billion.

The strategic ties with Israel, which even includes regular intelligence-sharing for counter-terrorism, are however kept largely under wraps due to the domestic and international sensitivities involved.