Indian Defence Cosies Up to Pentagon

In the backdrop of increased military cooperation between India and the United States, the Indian defence establishment has now gained direct access to the Pentagon, which houses the American Department of Defence, for working out issues of “mutual interest”, reports The Tribune.

In another significant development, there have also been reports that India is to station permanent military attaches at the Pacific and Central Commands.

Based at Hawaii, the Pacific Command’s AOR includes the entire Asia Pacific region east of India, while the Central Command, headquartered in Florida, handles the area west of the Indo-Pak international border including Central Asia, Middle East and parts of Africa.

These two attaches would be in addition to the military attaches already posted in the Indian Embassy in Washington.

Earlier at a Asia Security Summit, organised by the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies, U.S. Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said the U.S. relationship with India “has grown from an uneasy coexistence during the Cold War to a true partnership based on our common values and common interests today.”

Meanwhile India’s foreign policy analyst C Raja Mohan’s new book, Impossible Allies: Nuclear India, United States and the Global Order, traces the origin and shaping of Indo-US relations over the George W Bush presidency. “In doing so, it also looks into the opportunity for India and the US to forge an alliance based on a convergence of interests for the establishment of peace and order in Asia—acknowledged as a vital part of 21st century global stage.

“In the chapter ‘Rice Brings a Vision’, the author analyses the transformation of views in India about George W Bush and also Condoleezza Rice as secretary of state, both of whom are seen to be architects of the declared US goal “to help India become a major world power in the 21st centuryâ€?. If that’s not grand enough, the US went on to add, “We understand fully the implications, including military implications, of that statement.

“The Pentagon’s regard for India, accordingly, has gone up, and the author devotes at least two chapters to this new esteem in which the country’s defences are held by the world’s preeminent military force as a nation state. This interest is already evident in the frequency of “joint exercisesâ€? and the like.”

And, finally, this is what the Carnegie Report had earlier recommended to the State Department: “The United States must align with India because…By 2015, it will have the fourth most capable concentration of power. It will be among the five major economies in 25-50 years. Can be a counterfoil to China. Can stabilise the region littered with failing states.

“To align with India, the United States must…Help India’s power to grow to prevent China’s dominance. End the illusory idea of military balance between India and Pakistan. Endorse India’s membership in the UN Security Council, G-8, APEC, International Energy Agency. Remove objections to the Iran-India gas pipeline. Allow sale of dual-use technology, including nuclear safety equipment.”