ISLAMABAD: India’s National Security Guards Director-general Ashok Tandon, paid a quiet visit to Israel in the end of October and early November, where he interacted with officials of “Yaman, the Israeli anti-militant outfit, to explore possibilities and areas for bilateral cooperation.
A senior Indian Home Ministry official said that the areas for cooperation and interest essentially related to training and upgrading the skills of commandos and purchase of gadgcis and weaponry were discussed. He added that the visit was aimed at discussing mutual interest for cooperation and to take a look at a more Conceptual level and indicated that more such Visits were on the cards to discuss “functional issues”.
This is the first visit of a senior NSG official to Israel in recent years. In 1984, when the NSG was raised and the two countries had not yet established diplomatic relations, a batch of commandos visited Israel for training. This fact is also brought out in a recently published book written by a former official of Mossad.
During his stay in Israel, the NSG chief visited Yaman’s training center and interacted with officials from Mossad and the Shin Bet, Israel’s equivalent of India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) and the Intelligence Bureau (1B) respectively, Specific areas of interest included Specialist weapons, surveillance systems such as video monitoring and thermal imaging, and communication equipment.
Mr Tandon’s visit to Israel has been’ Justified by the Indian officials on the plea that the NSG has been modeled on the anti-militant organizations of “friendly” countries. Proposals under consideration include joint raining ventures to upgrade skills and techniques, exchange of commandos at the training academies, specialist courses and acquisition of certain specialist equipment.
Article extracted from this publication >> January 17, 1996
