(Asian Age-India) Lt. Gen. Vinay Shankar (Ret.) - India's emerging dependence on Israel for armaments is, unlike the past, a dependence of choice, for almost all our requirements could have been met from alternative sources. However, the Israelis brought more to the table than just commerce; they perhaps also brought a commitment to our security concerns. Israel has the highest ratio of engineers to population in the world. Similarly, its investment in R&D as a percentage of its GDP is not matched by any other country. Each year its people-to-patents ratio is well above the others. Through cooperation and strategic linkages with Israel, the benefits that India can derive are considerable. Israel is a small country but it has the potential to prop us so that the hardly visible shadow of India becomes clearly discernible in the Asian region.
2003-10-03 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive