Since India and Israel first established diplomatic relations in 1992, defense cooperation has played a major role in bilateral ties, with India emerging as one of Israel's largest arms clients. Furthermore,this relationship has strengthened since the 1998 ascendance to power of the Hindu-oriented Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of India, which emphasized the threat of Islamist terrorism, thus making Israel a natural ally. Just as Israel faces tremendous security threats from Iran, due to its nuclear program and support for terrorist groups like Hamas and Hizballah, India remains concerned with the Pakistani nuclear arsenal and Pakistan-based terrorist activities.