he 10th edition of biannual plane carnival Aero India 2015, which is going to start from Wednesday at Yelahanka airbase on the outskirts of IT city Bengaluru, would witness India and Israel signing an arms deal worth over rupees 9,000 crores. After the new foreign policy initiative by the Modi Government for the first time, Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Ya’alon is visiting Aero India 2015 and will meet Indian Defence Minister Manohar Parikkar.
The aero show which showcases ‘Make in India’ as a concept will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and a host of foreign dignitaries will be preset to witness the Asia’s biggest plane spectacle. The Israeli Defence Minister is also expected to have a meeting with the Prime Minister. The Israeli Defence Minister along with a team of officials and industry captains from Israel are expected to hold talks with Indian leaders to sell some of the high-end software and hardware configurations to India.
Sources told The Pioneer that India is likely to finalise two Phalcon AWACS( airborne warning and control system) and four aerostat radars deal worth rupees over 9,000 crores with Israel. This is going to be one of the biggest arms purchases by the Modi Government. Israel has been selling critical and sophisticated technologies and this acquisition would enhance India’s defence power.
After India and Israel set up full diplomatic relations in 1992 this is the first visit of an Israeli Defence Minister to Indian aero show. Israel is one of the top three defence equipment suppliers to India apart from Russia and the US. India being one of the top importers of arms, many countries are now in the race to supply arms which include Israel to gobble up Indian potential market.
Since the Kargil War, Isreal has supplied Harop Killer drones, Crystal Maze precision -guided munitions, Heron and Seracher UAV’s, radars to phython and Derby air-to-air missiles worth over $10 billion. The Union Finance Ministry had recently cleared the Defence Ministry’s need to purchase two more AWACS. India is also looking ahead for technology transfer from Israel to manufacture ATGM’s (Anti-tank guided missiles) at State-owned Bharat Dynamics. Apart from this, India has also acquired many missiles and UAVs.
Israeli exports to India crossed $6 billion in 2014. The defence exports alone amounted to about $2.5 billion in the same period. The bilateral trade has seen exponential growth in recent years, considering the fact that the trade picked up from a base of $200 million in 1992 - restricted mainly to diamond trade. Meanwhile, Bengaluru has been put under heavy security blanket on February 18 on account of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the city to inaugurate Aero India 2015.
Police Commissioner MN Reddi said that 5,000 police officials would be deployed for security duty and all hotels and streets will be put under police scrutiny. The city traffic police have, meanwhile, banned the movement of heavy vehicles for five days on the Yelahanka Air Force base route on account of the Aero India event. Heavy goods vehicles will be diverted to alternate routes on these five days. “We have estimated that the number of vehicles may increase by 25 per cent because of the air show,” Additional Commissioner of Police (traffic) B Dayananda said.