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Indian defence chiefs on arms missions in Israel, Italy

NEW DELHI, Wednesday (AFP) India on Tuesday sent a military team to Israel to try to procure an airborne radar system, as Defence Minister George Fernandes prepared to leave for Italy for military consultations.

Government sources said the high-powered Indian team led by Defence Secretary Subir Dutta will be in Tel Aviv for a week to try to clinch a billion-dollar deal to purchase Phalcon Airborne Warning and Control Systems (AWACS).

India insists that it has already won concrete assurances that the United States would not block New Delhi's purchase of the Phalcon, despite fears the acquisition could deepen South Asia's crisis.

"The team will also discuss possible acquisitions of unmanned aerial vehicles for the Indian air force, navy and the army," a senior defence ministry official told AFP, claiming that talks on the Phalcon deal were at an "advanced" stage.

The India-Israeli deal involves three Phalcon AWACS, and is worth an estimated one billion dollars.

Israel last year bowed to US pressure to drop a similar deal to supply Beijing with an advanced early warning system, as Washington feared this could upset the strategic balance between China and Taiwan.

The Indian defence ministry official also said the visiting team will hold talks on Israeli detection sensors, which New Delhi plans to deploy on the borders of its zone of Kashmir to try to prevent infiltrations by Muslim militants from the Pakistan zone of the disputed Himalayan state.

Along with Israel, the US is also in the race to supply electronic detection systems to India's pressed military.

"There is a full list that the team will discuss during its stay in Israel," the official said, adding that counter-terrorism hardware was high on India's military shopping list.

After Russia, Israel in recent years has become India's second largest defence supplier with armament sales from Tel Aviv to New Delhi touching 60 billion rupees (1.25 billion dollars) last year.

Indian Defence Minister Fernandes, meanwhile, was set to leave for Italy later Tuesday for "a look" at Italian Aeromacchi advanced trainer jets, an official said.

Fernandes, during his six-day stay in Rome beginning on Wednesday, would hold talks with his military counterparts, he said.

HNB-Pathum Udanaya2002

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