$4.5bn Indo-Israel arms deal

NEW DELHI 29 May: India and Israel are in the process of inking a $4.5 billion (Rs 20,000 cr) arms deal for air-to-ground and air-to-air missiles and other related systems. The deal could put Israel in the forefront once again as one of India's leading arms suppliers, reports Anuradha Mukherjee in The Sunday Guardian.

Official sources told The Sunday Guardian that the deal could contain a package of Derby and Python missiles, and even a hybrid of them, and other related equipment. The indigenous fighter, Tejas, is to be fitted with Derby air-to-air missiles from Rafael Advanced Systems.

Recent visits by the deputy chief of staff of the three services to Israel as part of a delegation led by Union Defence Secretary Pradip Kumar a few weeks ago indicated that the deals were meant for both the Air Force and the Navy. DRDO chief V.K. Saraswat was also in Israel recently to participate in the talks.

India's defence deals with Israel have faced criticism for the shroud of secrecy surrounding them. "We are buying arms without competitive bidding and transparency. To some extent, in the arms business, you have to make government to government deals. In our case, we don't even try to play one supplier against another to get competitive prices. The way India is making these procurements, we are paying much higher prices," said Brahma Chellaney, strategic analyst and professor with the Centre for Policy Research.

Saraswat's presence was required since these technologies were supposed to be undertaken as joint development programmes in which the DRDO usually ended up with a peripheral role, sources said.

Experts said that if the deal was cleared, it would be a major breakthrough from 2010, when several Israeli companies were blacklisted for irregularities in striking deals. The Israeli arms industry, which was beset by allegations of corruption, had also hit a bad patch in clinching the arms deals. The Ministry of Defence had admitted as much in Parliament in November 2010, but stopped short of naming the companies.

The Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), one of the most powerful Israeli arms manufacturers, was blacklisted by the MoD for its alleged involvement in the Ordnance Factory Board scam. Several other foreign companies were also blacklisted.

Chellaney said that with its offset policy Indian indigenous defence research did not stand much of a chance in the face of defence procurements from foreign countries. India diluted its offset policy earlier this year. The offset policy mandated that 50% raw material used in such joint projects had to be sourced from India. "Now it is not needed," said Chellaney. (Writer-South Asia)

Enemy seeking to cripple Iran’s economy, dash people’s hopes: Leader

Srinagar, May 31:  Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has outlined the enemy’s scenario for undermining the Islamic system of Iran, reports MNA. from Tehran.

“Undermining Iran’s economy, creating discord among the officials, and weakening Islamic beliefs and sentiments are part of the scenario of the enemies of Islam,” the Leader said during a meeting with parliamentarians on Sunday.

“The enemy has openly directed its efforts toward economic issues in order to cripple Iran’s economy and dash the people’s hopes,” he said.

The second goal of the hegemonistic system is to sow discord among government officials, so they should be vigilant and should not allow their disagreements to deteriorate into serious clashes and conflicts, he added.

The officials should avoid unnecessary arguments and fulfill their duty, which is to try to foil the enemy’s plot to undermine the Islamic establishment, he stated.

The third objective of the enemy’s scenario is to undermine Islamic beliefs and sentiments, promote atheism, and open the door for atheists to infiltrate Islamic nations, he said.

The Leader pointed to the Western media outlets’ massive propaganda efforts to manipulate the youth in Egypt, Tunisia, and other regional countries and said that the hegemonistic system is promoting corruption and raising doubts about religious beliefs with the aim of containing the Islamic awakening.

He also said that the main goal of the arrogant powers’ propaganda machine is to “pollute the atmosphere and obstruct the process of enhancing nations’ awareness, but despite their efforts, the Iranian nation has increased their understanding and insightfulness day by day.”

He added, “If we neglect our main duties and become preoccupied with peripheral issues or proudly underestimate the power of the enemy, defeat by the enemy will become a real danger.”

Elsewhere in his remarks, the Leader highlighted the importance of synergy and cooperation between the Majlis and administration, saying each branch of the government should be tolerant toward the differing views of other branches of the government.

He advised the MPs to take the administration’s ideas into consideration before drafting bills and enacting laws and to try to facilitate the implementation of laws by the administration.

The administration should also do its utmost to implement the parliament’s ratifications without making excuses, he said.

“Anyone who has a responsibility in any position should view themselves as being on a battlefield of the Iranian nation’s confrontation with the enemies of Islam and the Islamic Revolution and fulfill their obligations from this standpoint,” he added.

Commenting on the parliamentary election scheduled to be held in March 2012, the Leader advised the lawmakers not to allow their election campaigns to negatively affect the routine activities of the Majlis.

The Leader also said no one should be allowed to manipulate the election and the election should be held according to the legal procedure stipulated by the law.