BY : DAILY NEWS

A delegation of senior Israeli army officers will visit the violence hit Kashmir in the month of October.

Sources said that Israeli army officers, during their visit to Kashmir, will undertake real time testing of the sophisticated equipment sold by Israel to the Indian army. The wide array of Israeli-made surveillance devices, ranging from unattended ground sensors and Hand-Held Thermal Imagers (HHTI) to Long-Range Reconnaissance and Observation Systems and the Battle Field Surveillance Radars and the Surveillance Grid have been deployed by the Indian army along its frontiers with Pakistan to keep a check on the infiltration of militants from the Pakistani side of Kashmir.

The Indian Army recently installed new and sophisticated surveillance equipment in the border district of Kupwara, Kashmir, to keep a check on the movement of militants. The system, named Surveillance Grid, was imported from Israel. The equipment has been installed at selected points prone to infiltration. The Surveillance Grid is the first monitoring system of its kind in South Asia. "The surveillance grid makes combined use of high-power cameras, thermal sensing cameras and long range observation system (Loros) to monitor all types of movements at and across the border with Pakistan", sources said.

The Israeli army delegation will review the functioning and effectiveness of the equipment in Kashmir.

The Israeli army delegation will also share with Indian army officers and men, their experiences of tackling infiltration and militancy in Palestinians areas.

There have been regular reports the Israeli army has been training Indian army personnel to fight militancy in Kashmir. "Indian army officers and soldiers were trained by Israeli specialists in irregular warfare. They were also trained to handle the Israeli weapons including the most sophisticated surveillance grid meant to keep a watch on the movement of people along the LoC with Pakistan", reports said.

The Indian army spokesman in Srinagar, Col A K Mathur confirmed that the Israeli army delegation will visit Kashmir during the first fortnight of October. "They will be here to enjoy the picturesque beauty of Kashmir and also review the functioning of the equipment sold to the Indian army and deployed in Kashmir. After real time testing, the Israeli officers would assess the role of these gadgets and check their effectiveness", the defence spokesman said.

This will be the second trip for Israeli army officers, to the strife torn state within four months. Earlier, in the month of June, an Israeli army delegation led by its Deputy Chief of General Staff, Major General Moshe Kaplinsky visited Jammu. During their stay in Jammu, the Israeli army commanders visited the border areas to check the functional compatibilities of a large amount of military equipment, procured from Israel and installed close to the Line of Control.

The Indo-Israeli defence ties are increasing and there are reports that it was on the advice of Israeli army commanders that India fenced with barbed wire the 720-km-long LoC with Pakistan to check the infiltration of militants from across the border.

It is in place to mention here that Pakistan has voiced its deep concerns over the growing cooperation in the defence sector between India and Israel.