HIGHLIGHTS: Gen. Uzi Dayan, Heads Delegation||Security Cooperation Between Two Countries Increased Markedly Over Past Two Years||Dialogue Between Tel Aviv & New Delhi Being Institutionalized||STORY: A high-ranking Israeli delegation left this week for India for talks on cooperation in the war against terror. The delegation is headed by Israeli National Security Adviser Major General Uzi Dayan, who will be meeting with his Indian counterpart, Brajesh Mishra. (Read photo caption)

It is still not clear whether Dayan will meet with Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee.

A government source in Jerusalem yesterday said the visit had been scheduled months ago and that Israel was not involved in any way in the conflict between India and Pakistan.

Cooperation between Israel and India in the war against terror had increased markedly in the past two years, the source said.

In the coming days, Dayan will also be visiting the Philippines, which is currently engaged in a war against Islamic terrorism with the aid of a U.S. military force.

A few months ago, a delegation from the Philippines visited Israel for talks on joint efforts in the war against terror, and Dayan's visit will be another step toward institutionalizing the dialogue between the two states.

On his current trip, Dayan will also visit Japan for initial talks on strategic cooperation and the war against terror.

PHOTO CAPTION

Arab and Muslim political observers are eying closer Indian-Israeli cooperation with great suspicion. According to the sources, India once a close Arab ally, is now drawn to what is believed to be an unholy alliance with both Israel and the United States in what appears to be part of a wider plot aimed at containing Islam, the world's fastest growing religion. There are amazing similarities between the current standoffs between India and Pakistan over the activities of Resistance groups in Kashmir, on one hand, and that between Israel and the Palestinian National Authority and Israel over the activities of Palestinian Resistance groups in the occupied territories, on the other.