Posted on 02/03/2003 5:40:05 PM PST by chance33_98
Israel to train Indian special forces
uploaded 03 Feb 2003
2003-02-03 17:00:56
The Indian army will send thousands of special forces troops to Israel for training to fight Islamic liberation fighters in occupied Kashmir, and the two countries have signed a multimillion-dollar weapons deal, a news report said Sunday.
An Indian Defense Ministry delegation will visit Israel next week to discuss anti-insurgency warfare training for its special forces, the Press Trust of India news agency quoted unidentified ministry officials as saying. India and Israel have also signed a $30 million agreement to arm special forces with advanced light weapons systems, the news agency said.
Brigadier Shrutikant, an Indian army spokesman, gave no immediate comment on the report Israel will train about 3,000 selected Indian soldiers in batches, the news agency said.
India accuses neighboring Pakistan of training and arming Islamic freedom fighters and pushing them into the Indian-controlled part Kashmir to attack government forces and targets. Pakistan denies the charge. Both countries claim all of Muslim-majority Kashmir.
A cease-fire line divides the Himalayan territory between Pakistan and predominantly Hindu India. The guerrillas have been fighting since 1989 for Kashmir's independence or its merger with Pakistan. More than 61,000 people have been killed in the conflict. The Indian army's special forces are trained in desert, mountain and jungle warfare, along with anti-hijacking operations and hostage crises.
"He said the crew had been punished with death by Allah because there was an Israeli - Ilan Ramon, an Indian-born Hindu - Kalpana Chawla, and Americans on board."
This is really what gets the jihadis goat, so to speak.
From left) Miss India World 2003 Ami Vashi, Miss India Universe Nikita Anand and Miss India Earth Shweta Vijay pose for photographers during a news conference in New Delhi on February 4, 2003. The winners met the press on Tuesday after being crowned winners during a pageant in Mumbai last Friday.
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