Article Posted on : - Dec 01, 2015

The Commander of Israeli Air & Space Forces, Major General Amir Eshel calling on the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha, in New Delhi on Monday, Nov. 30, 2015. A PIB photo

NEW DELHI (PTI): Top officials of the Indian and Israeli Air Force met in Delhi on Monday for a review of the ongoing procurement process while also exploring new opportunities for cooperation.

Major General Amir Eshel, Commander of Israeli Air & Space forces called on his Indian counterpart Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha at the Air Headquarters in Delhi.

A delegation-level talk was also held, defence sources said, adding that bilateral relations have grown steadily between the two countries.

Israel views India as a strategic ally and has displayed willingness to co-operate on all fronts.

Indo-Israel defence relations comprise mainly of purchase of military equipment, MoD level dialogue, technology collaboration and service-to-service defence co-operation through service-level staff talks.

India-Israel defence co-operation has improved rapidly in the last few years with the latter providing state-of-the-art military hardware to India at reasonable cost.

Israelis have been at the cutting-edge of R&D in advanced technologies in a wide range of fields such as telecom, software, biotechnology, medical, electronics, agriculture and defence.

Indian Air Force (IAF) is in the midst of procuring the Spyder missile system from Israel besides the medium-range surface-to-air missile (MRSAM).

The Government this year has also accepted the IAF's proposal for procuring two advanced Israeli AWACS (airborne warning and control systems).