Mr. Qutubuddin Aziz, said that the Indian Air Force runs frequent flights between its bases in Panjsher Valley and Indian military aerodromes in Western India such as Pathankot, Amritsar, Delhi and Halwara. Similarly, Russian military aircraft run services between Panjsher Valley and Moscow. Russia is said to be urging Uzbekistan and Kyrgistan to join the military operations against the Taleban (led by Ahmed Shah Masood). Details of the Indo-Russian military and financial help to Ahmed Shah Masood’s forces revealed by experts of a prestigious West European military publication, Jane’s Defence weekly, were partly denied by Masood’s agents. Surprisingly, the UK Press virtually ignored Masood’s safari in France for the EU charade. But BBC slated the Taleban for closing the BBC office in Kabul. During the Soviet-Afghan war in the 1980s, British military intelligence considered Masood a maverick who had no qualms of conscience in taking bribes from the Soviet invaders to let their army supply convoys pass through the Salang Pass on way to Soviet-controlled Kabul. The Iranians, although not friendly to the Taleban, are reported to have refused to join the proposed Indo-Russian operations in support of Ahmed Shah Masood in the coming months.

Mr. Qutubuddin Aziz said he learnt from Arab diplomatic sources in London and in Dubai that the Israeli defence firms had paid billions of rupees in bribes to certain Indian BJP rulers and their brokers and minions to win lucrative defence contracts. He said that a well known Israeli military-equipment making firms, Rafael, having some US investments, had paid outgoing Indian Defence Minister George Fernandes and his main broker, S.K. Jain, more than two million dollars to win an Indian defence contract for the supply of the Barak missile system for the Indian Navy (which was vehemently opposed by the Indian Prime Minister’s Scientific Adviser, Abdul Kalam who considered the Israeli system flawed and unsuitable to India). Israel now has more than six thousand military and civil personnel based in India for its defence contracts, including electronic surveillance of border areas, upgrading of old Indian military planes and warships, improved howitzers etc. An Indian Air Force delegation led by an Air Marshal visited Israel very recently to finalise a deal for the supply of Israel’s latest AWAC-type Phalcon radar aircraft detection system for which Israeli agents and their Indian brokers have given fat bribes to top Indian military and political VIPs in the BJP government. The Israelis are even bribing Indian newspapers not to publish the details of Israeli bribes paid to Indian politicians and Defence Ministry officials. Disgraced Mr. George Fernandes, who was the biggest promoter of military purchases from Israel and Russia in the Indian BJP cabinet is now blaming Pakistan’s ISI for his current misfortunes. The anti-BJP Congress Party is said to have in its possession firm evidence of the bribes Israeli and Russian agents paid to the BJP Ministers and officials as kickbacks for military deals.

Mr. Qutubuddin Aziz said that despite the exposure of the bribes of millions of dollars Israel paid to the fallen Indian defence Minister George Fernandes and his cronies to sell Israeli military equipment to India, there has been no let-up in the Indo-Israel military cooperation. Israel’s leading daily, Haaretz, reported in its issue of 20 March that Israel had shipped to India early this year parts of a sophisticated radar system, Green Pile, capable of detecting ballistic missile attacks from hundreds of kilometres away. The Israeli Government had notified the Clinton Administration about this sale before President Bush got into the White House. This deal was negotiated largely by George Fernandes and certain Indian Air Force personnel. Many Arab countries are now increasingly critical of India’s military ties with Israel and the billions of dollars India is pouring into Israel to get the most sophisticated weapons most of which India will use against Pakistan. India’s daily Times of India, in its issue of March 21 last published Indian journalist Mamoj Joshi’s despatch from Cairo in which he reported that the Deputy Editor of Cairo’s leading Daily Al Ahram, Mahmoud Murad, and Professor Mohammad Salem of the Centre for Asian Studies at Cairo University were very unhappy with India’s growing ties with Israel. Manoj Joshi quoted Osama Al Baz, Political Adviser to President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, as saying that due to the Palestinian uprising against Israel, Egyptians were unhappy with India over Indo-Israel cooperation and certain Indian leaders’ support to Israeli propaganda against so-called Islamic terrorism and how India and Israel can jointly combat it. Egyptians have been specially critical of Indian Home Minister L.K. Advani’s championing of Israel and his June 2000 visit to Israel to buy new weapons. Some Arab newspapers have given details of the two million dollars and Israeli firm Rafael paid to Fernandez and his Party treasurer S.K. Jain for the purchase by India of Israel’’s Barak missile defence system for Rs. 5600 million. Israeli diplomats and military officers could walk any time into the office of Fernandez, so close was their liaison, Israel’s Indian broker for the Barak missile system’s sale to India was a retired Indian Navy Lt. Commander, S. Nanda, son of a former Indian Naval chief, Admiral Nanda. Broker Suresh Nanda heads the Crown corporation which helped clinch the Barak deal for Israel with defence minister George Fernandez. A high-level Indian Air Force delegation led by Air Marshal Vinod Patney during a weeklong visit to Israel in early April signed a billion dollars deal for Falcon airborne early warning system, unmanned aerial vehicles and air-to-air refuelling system.