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India spins on its own
axis
By Sultan Shahin
NEW
DELHI - Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is due in
India next week to cement a new India-Israel-United
States axis for fighting Muslim fundamentalist
terrorism. He will be closeted with Indian leaders
trying to firm up a core alliance against terrorism on
the second anniversary of the September 11, 2001,
terrorist attacks in the US.
Indian officials
have told the media that stronger India-US relations and
India-Israel relations have a natural logic as the three
countries are prime targets of terrorism and have "a
common enemy". So the need of the hour is a "joint
action", they added.
But Israeli officials in
New Delhi have not confirmed this. All they would say is
that the Sharon visit would be "very important" and "it
is an opportunity for the two countries to enhance
cooperation in economic and many other fields".
Israel, however, stands to gain substantially
from a strategic alliance with India. It may enhance its
regional security with a partner to combat and at least
inform on radical Muslim groups. It gains a US-approved
market for its defense industry's products. Israel has
persuaded the US that it can counter the impact of
Chinese technological advances on the region by allowing
Tel Aviv to channel high technology to India and thus
circumvent technology transfer blockades.
India
and Israel already share a growing security relationship
that has been nurtured with US help. The axis has
already started functioning, according to officials.
Observers maintain that the triad is growing fast and
the axis acquired new strength when Washington gave the
go-ahead for Israel to sell three Phalcon Airborne
Warning and Control Systems to India in a deal worth
over US$1 billion. This is technology that Washington
previously prevented Tel Aviv from selling to China. The
George W Bush administration is also on the verge of
approving the more-expensive sale of Israel's Arrow
anti-missile system, which was developed jointly with
the US. The Arrow deal would significantly shift the
Asian balance of power in favor of India, as it would
make the country less vulnerable to attacks from both
Pakistan and China.
Confirming this trend last
month Christina Rocca, US Assistant Secretary of State
for South Asia, stated that the US has "a really dynamic
military cooperation [with India] that is part of a
broader ... all-encompassing relationship". She, too,
will be visiting New Delhi soon. While the US is also
concerned over Muslim terrorism and has been benefiting
from Indian help, primarily in intelligence sharing, the
Bush administration has a broader agenda in supporting
such an alliance.
Washington wants to use India
as a counterweight to China, which it sees as its main
competitor in Asia. Also, it wants to establish military
bases in India. This became apparent recently from a
153-page Pentagon report titled "Indo-US Military
Relationship: Expectations and Perceptions", prepared by
analyst Juli A Macdonald for US Secretary of Defense
Donald Rumsfeld. More immediately, the US wants India to
send at least 20,000 troops to help its occupation
forces in Iraq.
New Delhi mooted the doctrine of
an India-Israel-US axis with a commitment of evolving a
joint strategy to fight international terrorism during
national security adviser Brajesh Mishra's recent visit
to Washington, officials said. India has been in contact
with several American and Israeli leaders subsequently,
lobbying for formation of this triad, and the issue will
be taken up during Sharon's visit, beginning from
September 9, the first by an Israeli prime minister.
Mishra is considered an alter ego of Indian
Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. A former diplomat,
he has been guiding for over a decade the foreign policy
of the Hindu fundamentalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
that leads a ruling coalition of 25 parties. According
to Mishra's doctrine of the triad, the proximity between
the three countries has been "growing as they are all
democracies, sharing a common vision of pluralism,
tolerance and equal opportunity".
Addressing the
American Jewish Committee's 97th annual dinner meeting
in Washington, DC on May 8, Mishra complained, "It is
most unfortunate that some diversionary arguments are
still preventing a consensus on important anti-terrorist
conventions. An agreed definition of terrorism still
eludes the international community. Distinctions sought
to be made between freedom fighters and terrorists
propagate a bizarre logic, which glorifies massacres of
one set of innocent civilians, while condemning killings
of others. Another fallacy propagated is that terrorism
can only be eradicated by addressing its 'root causes'.
This is nonsense. Terrorist attacks against innocents
have no justification. Democratic societies, which
address the 'root causes' of alienation and anger
through pluralism and socio-economic justice, are
precisely the targets of terrorism."
Making a
fervent plea for the new axis, in the presence of an
important European ally in Washington, Spanish Prime
Minister Jose Maria Aznar and a large number of American
Congressmen, he said, "As the main targets of
international terrorism, democratic countries should
form a viable alliance against terrorism and develop the
multilateral mechanisms to counter it. Such an alliance
would have the political will and moral authority to
take bold decisions in extreme cases of terrorist
provocation. It would not get bogged down in definition
and causal arguments about terrorism. Blocking financial
supplies, disrupting networks, sharing intelligence,
simplifying extradition procedures - these are
preventive measures which can only be effective through
international cooperation based on trust and shared
values.
"A core, consisting of democratic
societies, has therefore to gradually emerge from within
our existing coalition, which can take on international
terrorism in a holistic and focused manner. It would
ensure that the global campaign against terrorism, is
pursued to its logical conclusion, and does not run out
of steam, because of other preoccupations. We owe this
commitment to our future generations." The proposal
reportedly received plaudits from all present at the
meeting.
Mishra is not alone in making this
plea. India's Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister
Lal Krishan Advani chose Israel as the destination for
his maiden trip abroad as a minister of the present
government. Speaking during this visit in June 2000, he
said, "We share with Israel a common perception of
terrorism as a menace, even more so when coupled with
religious fundamentalism. Our mutual determination to
combat terrorism is the basis for discussions with
Israel, whose reputation in dealing with such problems
is quite phenomenal."
To avoid displeasing
Israel, he did not go to Syria or any other Arab country
after visiting Israel, though he had planned for the
same earlier. Undaunted by the prospects of touching raw
Arab nerves, he openly called for greater cooperation
between India and Israel in the military and nuclear
fields.
In an interview given to Fox News on
July 9, 2002, Advani said, "Terrorism in so far we have
seen it on September 11 or December 13, 2001 - [the date
on which the Indian parliament was attacked by
terrorists] - has a common source and that common source
has described the US, Israel and India as its three main
enemies." The obvious implication is that the three
countries therefore have a common cause and should forge
a common front against terrorism.
Israel is one
of the few countries with which India conducts regular
discussions on counterterrorism within the framework of
joint working groups. In fact the day the terrorists
struck the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, Israel's
national security adviser Major General Uzi Dayan was
holding high-level discussions on terrorism with top
Indian officials, including Brajesh Mishra in New Delhi.
The visit was a part of the ongoing strategic dialogue
between the two security establishments.
The
alliance between India and Israel is based predominantly
on military and intelligence cooperation. Israel has
provided India with sea-to-sea missile radar and other
similar systems, border monitoring equipment and night
vision devices. It also has upgraded India's Soviet-era
aircraft. During Sharon's visit, several agreements are
expected to be signed, including on defense cooperation,
suggesting that Israel may reach the level of Russia in
providing arms to India. Almost one half of Israel's
total military sales last year of $4.2 billion went to
India.
India-Israel commercial relations, too,
are expanding fast. Bilateral trade crossed $1.3 billion
last year, primarily in the high-technology sector,
rising from just $200 million in 1992-93 when India
accorded full diplomatic relations. India's traditional
exports to Israel (almost 70 percent) include rough
diamonds, gems, jewels and gold ornaments. The share of
drugs, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, cotton yarn and
fabrics is increasing rapidly.
This year
bilateral trade has already clocked a 30 percent growth
and India has overtaken China and Japan as Israel's
biggest trading partner. A delegation of Indian telecom
companies signed 22 deals with Israeli firms in July,
while a group of Israeli venture capitalists concluded
almost $7 billion in business in India recently in the
fields of telecom and the Internet.
Advani has
reportedly asked Israel to provide India with the latest
anti-insurgency devices, spy equipment, and the
latest-developed finger-print-deciphering powder (a
yellow powder that is more effective than the magnetic
powder). He also asked for torture and surveillance
equipment, eagle-eyed long distance snipers, observation
blimps, giant shields, night vision devices,
cross-border-snooping devices and spy-training
equipment.
India's purchases of defense hardware
- contracted or expected - include Radar for AWACS,
seven Barak ship-based anti-missile systems, Python-4
air-to-air missiles, maritime patrol aircraft (joint
venture), submarine simulators, Greenpine Radar systems
(capable of detecting ballistic missiles hundreds of
kilometers away), Arrow-2 missiles to counter ballistic
missiles, electronic systems for the Indian aircraft
carrier INS Virat, Tavor assault rifles and Galil sniper
rifles.
The cooperation extends to avionics for
SU 30 MKI and MiG 27s, upgrading India's MI-8/MI-17
helicopters, Jaguars and the Indian army's 130mm
artillery guns (to 155mm), and rescuing the ailing main
battle tanks (Arjun), light combat aircraft and an
integrated guided missile project. Israel is fencing
sensitive areas in the Indian part of Jammu and Kashmir
state under command of the HQ 15 Corps, Srinagar. Israel
is reportedly training 3,000 Indian soldiers in
"counter-insurgency" operations.
India has a
large requirement for satellites for communication,
weather forecasting, cartography, military surveillance
and other work. Improved technologies can always be of
help as a better satellite can have a bigger payload,
allowing more equipment to be sent up. Space
surveillance technology is thus likely to be a prime
area of talks with the Israeli delegation led by Sharon.
Some of the spadework has already been done by Dr K
Kasturirangan, who heads the Indian Space Research
Organization (ISRO). He went to Israel last month for
discussions on issues related to joint satellite making
and optical satellites. Israel appears to be keen to
share its satellite-making technologies with India.
India currently makes digital cameras that pick
up what is going on from 560 kilometers above the
Earth's surface. The cameras can provide resolution up
to 1 meter though if there is a crisis, sub-meter
resolutions are also possible. This can be done by
lowering the satellite, but this cuts down on the fuel
it carries, and therefore reduces its life. The
military, especially after the 1999 Kargil war with
Pakistan, has been calling for 1-meter resolution
satellites or less. The ISRO's technological
experimental satellite has that ability. Such
photographs can also be purchased from commercial
satellites like Ikonos, but they are prohibitively
expensive.
There are persistent, though
unconfirmed, reports that Advani has been working on
covert cooperation between India and Israel in the
nuclear field. In July 1979, Israel is said to have
proposed to the Carter administration a plan for
destroying the Pakistani research center at Kahuta by
either internal sabotage or by sending unidentifiable
planes through India to bomb it, the way in which it had
earlier bombed Iraq's Osirak reactor. But the US
government is said to have rejected the proposal.
New areas of India-Israel cooperation that are
being talked about include development of means to
enhance power projection - particularly in terms of air
and naval forces; ballistic missile defense systems
including exploration of boost phase intercept
technologies; cooperation in contending with nuclear,
chemical and biological threats from non-state actors;
and development of effective second strike capabilities
(particularly sea and submarine-borne), essential for
any credible no-first use nuclear policy.
The
India-Israeli alliance, however, can only be meaningful
if it has the US blessing. Washington, of course, has
its own strategic designs for India and the region.
Going by the National Security Strategy of the US, a
document released on September 20, 2002, India holds a
very prominent place in the American scheme of things.
According to Robert D Blackwill, US ambassador to India
until recently, this is "a policy document that bears
the personal stamp of President Bush". It states, "The
United States has undertaken a transformation in its
bilateral relationship with India. We are the two
largest democracies. We share an interest in fighting
terrorism and in creating a strategically stable Asia.
We start with a view of India as a growing world power
with which we have common strategic interests."
In an article in a major Indian newspaper, The
Hindu, Blackwill wrote, "Taken together our defense
cooperation and military sales activities intensify the
working relationships between the respective armed
forces, build mutual military capacities for future
joint operations and strengthen Indian military
capability, which is in America's interest." He
concluded the article, "An Indian military that is
capable of operating effectively alongside its American
counterparts remains an important goal of our bilateral
defense relationship. What we have achieved since
January 2001 builds a strong foundation on which to
consummate this strategic objective, which will promote
peace and freedom in Asia and beyond."
It would
thus appear that the newly-formed axis has a good
future. But it is not being universally welcomed in
India. Indeed, the media are full of criticism on a
variety of counts. When Mishra had first spoken of this
axis, the main opposition Congress party talked of the
ruling BJP's "strange obsession" with Israel. Veteran
journalist and former editor of the Indian Express, Ajit
Bhattacharjea, finds it ironic that Indian leaders want
to reflect on the horrors of the September 11 terrorist
attacks in the company of "a man [Sharon] who has made a
career of using terror to achieve his goals". He goes
on, "I do not know if those who invited him to come on
that date are aware of his record or, for that matter,
the record of the state of Israel. If so, they must have
a rare sense of irony. To appreciate it fully, we need a
look into the history of Israel and its latest prime
minister."
Thus, after a long time, the Indian
media are talking about the horrors perpetrated by
Israeli terrorist groups - Irgun Zvai Leumi, the Stern
Gang, Haganah - that were in their time as notorious for
their brutality as any terror groups today. India is
reading about how on July 22, 1946 an entire wing of the
King David Hotel in Jerusalem was blown up, killing 91
people, and how the state of Israel was created by
terrorist gangs. Exhausted by World War II, London was
preparing to hand over power to autonomous Arab and
Israeli areas in Palestine, while retaining a central
section, when it bowed to terror as Irgun blew up the
British officers club in March 1947, killing 14. It is
also talking about the horrors of Deir Yassin, Sabira,
Shatila and many other massacres of Palestinians
perpetrated by Israeli forces led by Sharon and his
predecessors.
One of the main questions being
asked is specifically directed to the BJP and its mentor
Rashriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS). How come from being
traditionally unabashed admirers of Adolf Hitler and
Nazi Germany, they have now become great admirers of
their victims, the Zionists of Israel? This one is,
however, easy to answer. Hindu fundamentalists were
never against Jews per se. They admired Hitler for the
way in which he tackled minorities.
Critics of
the government are also missing one vital point. Apart
from helping it out in meeting its military and other
strategic needs, Israel is the only country that can
teach India how to cope with the kind of society that
the BJP is determined to create. With suicide bombings
and terrorist attacks in several parts of the country
becoming routine, some of which, particularly from the
northeast, going largely unreported, it is imperative
that India learns from Israel its fortitude, resilience
and determination to survive. Where else but in an
American Jewish Committee's meeting in Washington, DC,
would Mishra have been applauded for saying that
addressing root causes of people's alienation and anger
amounted to justifying terrorism?
Apart from
raising moral objections to the emerging axis, critics
are also raising questions of strategy. Would it be
proper for India, for instance, to play the US game and
act as a strategic counterweight to the emerging
superpower in our neighborhood, China? It certainly
would not and if Vajpayee's approach to China, as
reflected during his recent trip to Beijing is any
indication, he has no desire to do so.
Apparently the government's critics do not set
much store by the prime minister's adroitness in
establishing strong ties with mutually incompatible
players at little or no cost to India's interests. If
New Delhi can maintain close strategic ties with Israel
and the US, while also maintaining equally close
strategic ties with a country designated evil by both of
them, Iran, why should one doubt its ability to also
include China also in the list? After all, India has
been able to condemn the US-led coalition's invasion of
Iraq through a unanimous resolution in its parliament
and refuse to send troops to support the US occupation,
while at the same time keeping Washington engaged and
hopeful that New Delhi would eventually send the second
largest military contingent to help it maintain its
occupation of Iraq.
It is in this spirit of
managing contradictions that 10 days before Sharon was
to visit, India invited Palestinian Foreign Minister
Nabil Shaath for a tete-a-tete. Shaath may have gone
back empty-handed, according to press reports, but New
Delhi has made its point: India will remain engaged with
the Arab world, while seeking to strengthen the
newly-formed axis with Israel and the US. Tightrope
walking is a game every Indian loves to play.
(Copyright 2003 Asia Times Online Co, Ltd. All
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