Posted on 03/25/2005 9:48:23 PM PST by CarrotAndStick
Washington: The United States unveiled plans Friday to help India become a "major world power in the 21st century" even as it announced moves to beef up the military of Pakistan. Under the plans, Washington offered to step up a strategic dialogue with India to boost missile defense and other security initiatives as well as high-tech cooperation and expanded economic and energy cooperation.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has presented to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh the Bush administration's outline for a "decisively broader strategic relationship" between the world's oldest and largest democracies, a senior US official said. Editor's Choice Discuss: India doesn't need US help to become a superpower
"Its goal is to help India become a major world power in the 21st century," said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
"We understand fully the implications, including military implications, of that statement."
He did not elaborate but noted that South Asia was critical, with China on one side, Iran and West Asia on the other, and a somewhat turbulent Central Asian region to the north.
The US-India plan was announced as Washington decided Friday to sell an undetermined number of F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan under a plan to prop up Pakistan on the political, military and economic fronts.
Rice discussed the US-India plan with Singh during her Asian visit earlier this month but it was not revealed to the public.
The US proposal culminates efforts to repair relations strained by India's May 1998 nuclear tests.
The healing process began when Bill Clinton visited India in March 2000 near the end of his presidency, as the first president to go there since Jimmy Carter in 1978.
He eased sanctions on purchases of high-tech equipment and broke into a market formerly served by India's Cold War ally Russia.
President George W Bush's administration, under a so-called "Next Steps in Strategic Partnership," pushed that process forward by completely lifting sanctions, including military sales, in return for India's support on the US-led war on terrorism.
"This year the administration made a judgment that the 'Next Steps in Strategic Partnership,' though very important, wasn't broad enough to really encompass the kind of things we needed to do to take this relationship where it needed to go, and so the president and the secretary (Rice) developed the outline for a decisively broader strategic relationship," the US official said.
Bush was inviting Prime Minister Singh to visit him in July in Washington and the US leader would also like to travel to South Asia later this year or early next year, he said.
Those presidential meetings, he added, would "be consolidating an enhanced dialogue" on the strategic, energy and economic tracks with India.
The strategic dialogue will include global issues, regional security matters, Indian defense requirements, expanding high-tech cooperation and even working toward US-India defense co-production, the official explained.
The United States, he said, was prepared to "respond positively" to an Indian request for information on American initiatives to sell New Delhi the next generation of multi-role combat aircraft.
"That's not just F-16s. It could be F-18s," he said.
Deputy State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said US corporations were now "free to talk to India" about whatever aircraft they could offer.
"It'll be up to India to decide what it wants. And then negotiations, if it does decide it wants something from us, based on its needs, would proceed from there," Ereli said.
Beyond possible sale of fighter planes, the US is ready to discuss the more fundamental issue of defense transformation with India, including transformative systems in areas such as command and control, early warning and missile defense, the official said.
"Some of these items may not be as glamorous as combat aircraft, but I think for those of you who follow defense issues you'll appreciate the significance," he said.
The energy dialogue is to include civil, nuclear and nuclear safety issues as well as the issue of space launch vehicles and satellites while the existing economic dialogue would be revitalized with discussion of energy, trade, commerce, environment and finance.
US energy, treasury and transport ministers are to visit India this year.
Does that cover the cost of Chinese missiles(modified with help from leased Pakistani weapons) taking out American fighters???
And China is earning its righful pennies, right?
PS: The Chinese economy is several times over propped by the US, in comparison to the Indian economy. If I've heard correct, outsourced wealth forms a miniscule fraction of India's economy.
Yeah Riiiight by selling F-16, PC3 Orions and CJ10s and PAC-3s to Pakistan!!
At this rate India will become a Superpower alright! /Sarcasm
US should be the only Super Power. Nothing should be threatening and come close to US in military means. Well, maybe India could be a sub-Super power to alert China. :)
Is Bush good at geography? I mean he could be giving the F-16 to Pakistan thinking it to be India !
I can remember Mad Albright saying something about China and how they should be a superpower too. By the size of China's economy and our dependence on it, its clear to many people that the country has been artificially bolstered by the US government's policies.
Fewer people see it happening in India, but it is. Our government has brought the higher caste into this country and educated them and given them jobs here by the hundreds of thousand so they can learn and take back to India what they know about a "market economy".
Our government through USAID and I forgot to mention the UN, spent our money to bring India's infrastructure up-- that includes building power grids and power plants, water storage and distribution systems, roads, schools and hospitals. The United Nations and the WTO call it "capacity building" (they like to use euphemisms so the American people don't actually know where the money is going and why).
Then our government, through many different trade agreements and the creation of government programs like the Export Import Bank, the INF and OPIC, guaranteed that US businesses would locate offshore in India.
Its been a great scam-- it has worked well for India.
The next step is to do the same thing in the Western Hemisphere, more US tax money disappearing to build the economies of other nations to compete against us. This is called, in our hemisphere, the Free Trade of the Americas Agreement (FTAA). Its purpose is not only to raise the standard of living in "poor countries" in the hemipshere (which is lowering ours BTW)but to integrate all the countries in the hemisphere into one very large trading bloc, to compete with competition we created for ourselves in Asia. The problem with this, is that the United States loses its sovereignty and the US Constitution merely becomes an historic curiousity.
India, China are too large to stop. Unless America decides to nuke both of these countries to oblivion, hoping they don't retaliate, there is no way of stopping them from steaming ahead.
Indians of all diversity, arrive American shores. Not just the 'higher castes'.
Simple. India is a good democracy, friendly to Anglophones. We wish them very well. China will not get the goodies until it becomes free and unthreatening.
Are you from India?
India has a great potential, not just in terms of population, but the skills such as mathematics and English, which may also allow advantages in software and science, also useful for military products. Probably India will also have the ability to be one of the major exporting countries of military products. I just hope India will not be an enemy of the US.
Sorry, took a breather.
Which Chinese missiles?
I thought we were moving toward F/A-22 for domestic use.
If the Chinese missiles are a threat to the fleet we are currently marketing, then it seems we have an opportunity to sell some costly upgrades/enhancements in the near future.
Yes.
Rest assured, they won't. Unless America has its strategy confused.
The Chinese are getting to work on their on active radar BVRAAMs like the SD-10 & shorter range weapons like the PL-11 & 12.Those weapons have Russian help & would gain a lot from an infusion of American tech from systems like the AMRAAM or Aim-9X,which may end up being sold to Pakistan.& given Pakistan's longlasting friendship with China,they wouldn't mind tossing a few missiles to Beijing.
About the F/A-22,the numbers being ordered are very small(about 200 as of now)-there is no guarantee that there will be enough of them to provide complete superiority against China.
Lastly,sensible nations don't sell weaponry to troublemakers or potential troublemakers & then design systems to defeat the earlier ones.
Thanks.
I agree about the transfer of sensitive tech to questionable partners. Not a good idea, unless the tech is poisoned, or has a trojan.
We are not living under the B(J)enign rule of Bubba. I doubt any unacceptable tech transfers will occur.
There's a new Sheriff in town.
Chin up!
Bubba did a lot of things,but selling F-16s to Pakistan was not one of them.About the new sherrif in Town,has he stopped armssales to Arab/muslim nations???
Well, well, well the journalist who wrote this piece doesnt quite 'get it' as evidenced by "worlds oldest and largest democracies" ;-) lol but that source's remark is VERY interesting and perhaps significant...hmmmmmmmmmm...
It's VERY good to see SOMEONE [gee I wonder WHO? ;-)] in the U.S. Govt DOES seem to 'get it' ;-) ;-) eh? - imho it's none too soon to begin long range geostrategic contingency-planning for AFTER this 'New American Century'.
With statements like these my Hope is bolstered that Western Civilization may win again in the coming REAL 'Clash of Civilizations' afterall :-))).
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