Recently one of our readers asked for more details on the co-operation between Israel and India. You can hear that from a former Jewish General in the Indian Army.

“Actually, there is a long history to what is now happening. As early as 1962, during the war between India and China, prime minister Nehru appealed to prime minister David Ben-Gurion, asking him for military aid. Already then, Israel sent military equipment, mainly 120 mm. mortar rounds. It happened again in the war against Pakistan in 1965 and in the war in 1971: Israel supplied India with mortar rounds, even 160 mm. rounds. And Israel once again proved its generosity in the military conflict with Pakistan in 1999; on that occasion, it also assisted in supplying ammunition, even bombs meant for the Mirage jets of the Indian air force.”

The General also believes that even the present Indian Govt. will maintain excellent relations with Israel, even though they have issued statements supporting the Palestinian cause.”

A victory by the Congress Party under the leadership of Sonia Ghandi in the elections to be held in India in May will not lead to any change in India’s policy toward Israel. The good relations will continue, and in certain area even grow deeper,” assesses Lieutenant General J.F.R. Jacob, a former senior Indian army officer and a Jew, who yesterday completed a five-day visit to Israel. “If I had to rank the present-day level of relations between India and Israel,” Jacob adds, “I would give them a 9 out of 10.”[The Jewish general who beat Pakistan]

Well, India and Israel are launching programs to develop nano materials and hi-tech components needed for electronic warfare. Bilateral trade between the two countries have reached $1.23 billion dollars , an increase of about 43%.
The other day Chanakya or Kautilya or Chandragupta Maurya, who runs vichaar.org asked if India has any military allies. Israel is one country who has come to India’s help all the time and India should do everything to maintain that relation.

After India’s nuclear tests in May 1998, India’s Jaswant Singh engaged in a series of dialogues with Strobe Talbott, the US Deputy Secretary of State. Now Mr. Talbott has written a memoir, Engaging India: Diplomacy, Democracy, and the Bomb based on his discussions with Mr. Singh.

Talbott

• Kautilya has an assesment of 100 days of the new Indian Govt, which is ruling with the support of the Communists and he thinks that the early signals have been encouraging and India may be in for good times.
• Rediff Columnist Rajeev Srinivasan has started a blog. It is mainly for replying to the mails he gets, so has Dilip D’Souza
• Robi and Nitin have put the subcontinent briefing which has news related to India and its neighbors.

While India’s Arab appeasement policy does not seem to be working, it has become important for the Indian Govt. to spell the policy on the state of Jammu and Kashmir very clearly.

Even as the Indian Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS)decided to continue the on-going dialogue process with Pakistan, it asserted that New Delhi could neither accept Islamabad

• Yayaawar explains why he is ashamed to be a Hindu Indian. This is related to case of the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, Uma Bharti, who had to resign her post as a non-bailable warrant was issued against her.
• Vivek Kumar has brief reviews of three books about India.

The new Indian Govt. as a policy has decided to support the Palestinian Issue without any condemnation of their terrorist policies. There is also no acknowledgement of the fact that it was Israeli help that was a decisive factor in the Kargil war. This Arab appeasement policy was followed by India during the cold war era and the new Govt. seems to be stuck there. The interesting fact is that we do not get any support for Arabs on any issue that matter to us and still we manage to crawl on our knees for them.
For example, the Arab appeasement did not win us any rebates on Oil. In terms of breaking away Kashmir valley from India, the OIC stand is to support the United Nations resolutions. In the 2003 OIC Meeting, the OIC even welcomed the restraint shown by Pakistan in face of Indian provocation.
After visiting India and not making any statement about Kashmir Valley, the Foreign Minister of Kuwait has done a “U” turn in Pakistan and now suggested that the United Nations resolutions be implemented. This is directly in opposition with the Indian viewpoint that, the whole thing is a bilateral issue.

A set of people who were seriously affected by terrorism in Jammu and Kashir are the Kashmiri Pandits. They are Hindus who lived in the valley, but were forced to move out of the state by Islamic terrorists. These Hindus live in refugee camps in their own country, where Hindus are a majority. Over the years various political parties have milked them for votes, but they never got to get back to their homes. Now it takes Frank Pallone, a US Congressman to remind the Prime Minister of India to take care of these Hindus.

Democratic US Congressman Frank Pallone appealed to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to include Kashmiri Pandits in “developing the future course of action in Jammu and Kashmir,” and expressed disappointment over the government not mentioning the community in its policy statement on the issue. “Given the urgency of addressing the plight of Kashmiri Pandits, I was disappointed that the new government did not mention the Pandits as part of its policy on Kashmir,” Pallone said in a letter to Singh, copies of which were released Wednesday.

“I urge you to include the Pandits in any negotiations with Kashmiri constituents and in developing the future course of action in Jammu and Kashmir,” Pallone said, asserting, “Pandits have suffered more than any group as a result of the conflict in Kashmir.” “It is more important now than ever for a public commitment from your administration to include the Pandits in future policy discussions,” he added. By doing so, they will be ensured a much-needed voice in determining the future of their security and return to the valley, Pallone said.[via vichaar.org]

While Pakistan is trying various techniques to breakaway Kashmir Valley from India, many commentators have come up with various solutions to the Kashmir Problem. Some border on the insane, while some have got the basic idea.
Money can do wonders and wealth creation is a great way to find solutions to complex problems, or as Thomas Friedman would say, progress is made by societies who move away from Olive Trees to the Lexus. An example of people moving away from Olive Trees is this news from Jammu and Kashmir where Muslim traders are writing signboards in Hebrew to attract Israeli tourists who are flocking to the valley. Anywhere else in the Muslim world, this would be considered a sure path to hell, but not in India.

Gulzar Ahmad, owner of a handicraft shop near scenic Dal Lake in Srinagar, recently changed the language of his outlet

• India’s foreign minister Natwar Singh in a party meeting made some hilarious observations. Priyendra Deshwal has a good rebuttal.
• For all the hatred she has shown for America, it seems Arundhati Roy admires Americans. This was mentioned in a lecture she gave at UC Berkeley
  

  When asked about the US, she said she admires Americans and thinks that because the people here are far more well off than the rest of the world, the Americans can mobilize and make a difference to humanity as a whole by influencing the role of Govt. and the military establishment than people any other part of the world.[Arundhati Roy’s talk at UC Berkeley]

While the name Madrassa may evoke images of a terrorist factory from what we have seen in Pakistan, it is not always so. In India, in a madrassa, Hindu and Muslim students learn together, all the subjects, not just Quran.

The morning prayers begin with an ode to Mahatma Gandhi followed by traditional Islamic teachings and a patriotic song. Needless to say, the resonance of children learning Urdu and Sanskrit together and singing patriotic songs is a heartwarming sight for a nation ridden by some dangerously deep religious divides.

“It is different from the way rest of the madrasas work. Here children from all the castes study, whether they are Muslims or Hindus alongwith Urdu language children are also taught English, Hindi and Sanskrit,” Maulana Ansar Ahmed, the Madarsa head-master said. ocals said they remained unaffected by the communal undertones and were more interested in chalking out a better future for their children. “Children are taught everything in this madrasa and they are also taught Urdu so we send them here,” Devi Prasad Gaud, a parent said.[Hindu students study at a Madrasa]