The Case against Collaboration between India and Israel by Raja Swamy
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . India, the Israeli Arms Industry's Prized Market It is commendable that the Indian government, albeit "under pressure from the Left parties," condemned the Israeli bombardment of Lebanon and called for an "immediate and unconditional ceasefire." However, the recent pattern of collaboration between the Indian and Israeli military and political establishments renders such condemnations and calls quite meaningless. Moreover, this official expression of concern came weeks into the bombardment, specifically in response to the brutal massacre of about 60 civilians, a majority of them children and women, in the city of Qana, which only ten years ago was the site of another horrendously similar Israeli atrocity. Statements and official pronunciations aside, what deserves greater public scrutiny is the pattern of relationships developed by India's political elites with the Israeli state and military over the period of the last decade. Business Week reported in 2005 that India became Israel's largest importer of weapons the previous year, accounting for about half of the $3.6 billion worth of weapons exported by that country.3 Not coincidentally, that year also proved to be the second best recorded year for the Israeli weapons industry, making Israel the 5th largest weapons exporter in the world and accounting for about 10 percent of the world's weapons trade. Obviously, the Israeli armaments industry values India as a major new market for its weapons and as such has much to gain from maintaining and deepening the appetite for arms by the Indian state. FULL TEXT: <http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/swamy300806.html>. -- Yoshie <http://montages.blogspot.com/> <http://mrzine.org> <http://monthlyreview.org/>
