Israeli unmanned air vehicles have bolstered India's military capability in the disputed Kashmir region.
    The UAVs are part of an array of Israeli systems provided to New Delhi over the last year to help improve India's capabilities in reconnaissance and rapid response. India has requested additional equipment and intelligence amid its showdown with Pakistan.
    Western industry sources said India has bolstered its conventional capabilities through the acquisition of Israeli weapons and training. The sources said Israeli UAVs now patrol the skies around Kashmir and quickly identify Pakistani-sponsored insurgents.
    The Israeli supply to India is expected to increase as Western countries are curbing efforts to sell weapons to New Delhi. Sweden said it will not allow Bofors to compete against Israel to bid to supply 200 self-propelled 155 mm artillery systems to India. Bofors was a competitor with Israel's Soltam and South Africa's Denel for a $2 billion project.
    Soltam has offered its lightweight SPWH. Bofors is offering its FH-77BD SPH.
    Last week, an Israeli security delegation held talks with Indian defense and security chiefs on counter-terrorism. The sources said the discussions focused on dealing with the Pakistani-supported insurgency threat and the Kashmir conflict. The two sides were said to have reviewed India's plans to establish a security system to detect insurgents in the mountainous region.
    Israel — which exports $900 million a year to India — is believed to have supplied a range of UAVs to New Delhi. These include the Harpy attack UAV and the tactical Searcher systems.
    India has also asked Israel to accelerate supply of Aerostat Balloons, which contain early-warning systems that can detect threats of up to 500 kilometers.
    In addition, Israel has improved the communications as well as command and control capabilities of India's ground forces. So far, Israel's Tadiran Communications has signed two contracts this year for tactical communications to New Delhi.
    The sources said India's arms-buying spree has been facilitated by a new procurement policy by Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The policy has also led to the purchase of U.S. radars and other systems. 
 

    Pakistan has sent an envoy to tour Gulf Arab states to help raise money to buy weapons to prepare for any conflict with India.
    Gulf defense sources said an envoy of President Pervez Musharraf has been touring Gulf Cooperation Council and Middle East states in an appeal for political and financial support.
    The sources said Pakistan has focused its efforts in the Gulf on obtaining funds from GCC states to ensure weapons deliveries as well as the procurement of supplies and ammunition. Islamabad is asking other Middle East states such as Egypt and Jordan for political support.
    On June 2, Qatari Chief of Staff Maj. Gen Hamad Bin Ali Al Attiyah met Pakistani military attache Col. Farouq Mahfouz. The official Qatari news agency said the two men discussed "means of enhancing bilateral cooperation."
    Pakistan provides weaponry and training to several GCC countries.
    Islamabad has the closest relations with Saudi Arabia. The two countries engage in joint exercises, weapons production and development.
    [U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld left for a tour that will include visits to Bahrain and Kuwait and Qatar. Rumsfeld will also visit India and Pakistan and focus his meetings on the threat of weapons of mass destruction.]
 

    Syria has begun the supply of long-range rockets to Hizbullah.
    Israeli defense sources said the Syrian supply began in early April and includes the long-range Katyusha rocket. The rocket is said to have a range of up to 70 kilometers, which can allow Hizbullah to strike targets anywhere in northern Israel.
    The Syrian move marks a change in policy for the regime of President Bashar Assad. Until April, the sources said, Syria allowed Iran to supply rockets to Hizbullah in flights to Damascus and then in overland shipments to southern Lebanon.
    The change in policy, the sources said, stemmed from Iran's suspension of the supply of long-range Katyushas to Hizbullah. The sources said Iran has been hard-pressed to fly the weapons over such neighbors as Turkey while fearing that Israel and the United States will stop shipments via the Mediterranean Sea.
    The Syrian supply to Hizbullah, the sources said, has meant producing the long-range Katyushas in Syrian factories. The production effort is believed being funded by Iran.
    The Syrian supply to Hizbullah was said to have been raised by Israeli Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, who met on June 2 with visiting U.S. Assistant Secretary of State William Burns. A government statement quoted Ben-Eliezer as urging the United States to pressure Syria to stop Hizbullah attacks and armament efforts.
    Israeli sources said Assad has concluded that Syria will not come under Israeli or U.S. attack in response to Hizbullah's military campaign against the Jewish state. The sources said the Syrians have assessed that Israel cannot afford a war that would include its northern border as well as with the Palestinian Authority.