India, Israel army brass hold talks

India, Israel army brass hold talks

NEW DELHI: Ahead of its hush-hush visit to Jammu & Kashmir, a top-level Israeli Army delegation held wide-ranging discussions with the Indian military brass on Wednesday to discuss ways to boost the already robust bilateral defence ties.

The delegation, led by Israeli deputy chief of general staff Major-General Moshe Kaplinsky, shared its views with Army chief General J J Singh, Navy chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta, IAF chief Air Chief Marshal F H Major and defence secretary Shekhar Dutt.

"The Israelis, in turn, got a briefing on India’s security perspectives in the region and beyond. Since both countries have a long history of dealing with terrorism, cooperation is now taking place in sharing of intelligence and counter-terrorism strategies," said a source.

As reported earlier by TOI, the Israeli delegation will be travelling to J&K on Thursday, with visits planned to the 16 Corps headquarters in Nagrota, which is tasked with guarding the Line of Control south of the Pir Panjal range, as well as Jammu and other places.

"The delegation will review the performance of the Israeli equipment being used along the LoC, like unattended ground sensors, HHTIs, among others. The Israelis will also share their experience of tackling infiltration in Gaza Strip," said the source. Later, the delegation is slated to visit the Western Naval Command at Mumbai.