New Delhi: In view of the prevailing
security situation in West Asia, the Defence Ministry is
likely to defer Gen V K Singh`s three-day visit to Israel
scheduled to start from March 16.
Gen Singh was scheduled to visit Tel Aviv to discuss and
review the existing and future military programmes between the
two countries.
The Army Chief is likely to be asked to defer the visit
to the next half of the year in view of the present situation
there, Defence Ministry sources said here.
This would mean that it would be the new Army Chief who
will go to Israel as Gen V K Singh is scheduled to retire on
May 31.
In recent times, there have been tensions between Israel
and Iran over the attacks on Israeli diplomats in foreign
countries.
During his visit, the Army Chief is supposed to discuss
with his Israeli counterpart the future joint development of
defence programmes.
Defence cooperation between India and Israel has been
burgeoning since diplomatic relations between New Delhi and
Tel Aviv were established in 1992.
The ties have become stronger in the recent times with
India emerging as the largest purchaser of Israeli defence
hardware since the beginning of the 21st Century.
PTI
