Israel’s concern is that UNIFIL’s (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon) operational coordination with the LAF (Lebanese Armed Forces) results in the covering-up of evidence of Hizbullah rearmament and would like UNIFIL forces to have a more robust mandate and exercise operational independence.
India refutes Israeli charge of aiding Lebanese intruders
The Indian contingent, collectively known as INDBATT, diffused the situation through mediation and got the demonstrators to withdraw. The Indian Army asserts that the actions of the Indian peacekeepers was in conformity with UNIFIL Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).
IAF’s MMRCA trials to begin next week
StratPost has been reliably informed that the trials for the 126 Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) are slated to begin in the last week of July or the first week of August. Boeing’s F/A-18 Super Hornet is to be the first aircraft that will be tried out for the estimated $ 10 billion order.
Indian irritation with end use monitoring
While the Indian government may have agreed to an umbrella End Use Monitoring Agreement, there are many in the Ministry of Defense and the armed forces who are not happy with the pact. StratPost finds out why.
End use monitoring pact creates political furor
Former External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha asked in Parliament whether the pact would allow US inspection even for military purchases from third countries if they had used American technology and whether inspectors would be able to make on-site visits to sensitive installations to inspect fixed, immovable assets.
Baloch reference confounds Indian security officials
‘Why did they have to open that door? This will simply give encouragement to the Pakistanis to try and drag us down on one more issue at every forum. Our behavior might be an open book, but that doesn’t mean we allow them an opportunity to twist it into something else’.
