Israel Likely to Train Indian Counter Terror Special Forces‏

OC Ground Forces Command Maj.-Gen. Avi Mizrahi paid an unscheduled visit to the disputed state of Kashmir last week to get an up-close look at the challenges the Indian military faces in its fight against Islamic insurgents. Mizrahi was in India for three days of meetings with the country's military brass and to discuss a plan the IDF is drafting for Israeli commandos to train Indian counterterror forces.

Under the proposed agreement, the IDF would send highly-trained commandos to train Indian soldiers in counterterror tactics, urban warfare and fighting in guerrilla settings. Mizrahi's visit to Kashmir was reportedly kept secret at the time since India feared it could spark violence in the disputed state; it was subsequently reported widely in the Indian and Pakistani press.

Media reports said Mizrahi spent several hours at the Akhnoor Military Base in Kashmir where he gave a lecture to senior officers on counterterror operations. India is the largest importer of arms from Israel and since 2002 has bought more than $5 billion worth of equipment.While Mizrahi's visit did not spark violence it did upset Kashmir nationalists. The Israel's Counter-Terrorism Bureau has recommended that Israelis refrain from visiting Kashmir.

Farooq Ahmad Dar, a senior leader of the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front, told an Indian Qeb site the visit was "part of plan under which India intends to suppress the ongoing intifada movement in Kashmir by dint of power, and change Kashmir's demography."

On Friday, hundreds of Muslims participated in pro-independence rallies across Indian Kashmir, leading to scattered clashes with government forces that left at least two protesters dead and dozens wounded. Separatist leaders have warned Indian authorities that the situation could spiral out of control if they "use force to break peaceful protests."

More than two months of angry protests, some of the biggest anti-India demonstrations in two decades, have left at least 43 people dead in Indian-controlled Kashmir, most of them killed when soldiers opened fire on Muslim protesters. Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since 1947, when the two countries fought their first war over the region in the aftermath of Britain's partition of the subcontinent.

Both countries continue to claim all of Kashmir.