Panetta talks of power shift
7 Jun 2012 1:06 AM GMT
On the two-day visit to New Delhi, the US defence secretary Leon Panetta told the Indian leadership that the US had finally decided to ‘put money where the mouth is’. All this while various American commentators had been talking about how the loci of world power are shifting from the Atlantic to the Pacific, because the emerging powers of the world are located in the Asia-Pacific region.
For the first time, the USA has decided to 're-balance' its military assets to the Pacific, drawing forces from the Atlantic Ocean on a ratio of 60:40.
Panetta explained what this new co-relation of forces meant for India to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the national security adviser Shiv Shankar Menon on Tuesday and the defence minister A K Antony on Wednesday.
The Ministry of Defence, at the end of the Antony-Panetta meeting, issued a statement, saying, 'Both sides also exchanged views on the security situation in South Asia, West Asia and the Asia-Pacific and on various global security challenges, including in the area of cyber security.' This indicated that the two sides talked about the situation in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, Syria and, of course, China.
On the Asia-Pacific region, 'Antony conveyed that India supports unhindered freedom of navigation in international waters for all. At the same time, with regard to bilateral issues between countries, he stressed that it is desirable that the parties concerned themselves should settle contentious matters in accordance with the international law.'
This, in effect, conveyed to the US that India would not support its meddling in issues like various disputes about maritime boundaries with China, especially in the South China Sea. But, neither would India like to see China transgressing the limits of engagement imposed by international laws.
The key presences of the scientific adviser to the defence minister V K Saraswat and the defence production secretary Shekhar Aggarwal in the contingent of Antony signalled that the two sides wanted to engage in talks on technology access and joint productions. The defence minister had emphasised this in his opening statement by talking about the country seeking to go beyond 'buyer-seller transactions and to focus on transfer of technologies and partnerships to build indigenous capabilities'.
While it is said that 'US friendship is worse than American enmity', Panetta had pointed out on Tuesday to Singh and Menon that India was the only country named as a partner in the President Barack Obama’s Strategic Guidance document.
But it is clear that the figure of $200 billion to be spent on modernisation of the Indian forces over a decade is proving to be a great driver to the Western countries, leading them to increasingly embrace India as a friend/partner/associate.
For the first time, the USA has decided to 're-balance' its military assets to the Pacific, drawing forces from the Atlantic Ocean on a ratio of 60:40.
Panetta explained what this new co-relation of forces meant for India to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the national security adviser Shiv Shankar Menon on Tuesday and the defence minister A K Antony on Wednesday.
The Ministry of Defence, at the end of the Antony-Panetta meeting, issued a statement, saying, 'Both sides also exchanged views on the security situation in South Asia, West Asia and the Asia-Pacific and on various global security challenges, including in the area of cyber security.' This indicated that the two sides talked about the situation in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, Syria and, of course, China.
On the Asia-Pacific region, 'Antony conveyed that India supports unhindered freedom of navigation in international waters for all. At the same time, with regard to bilateral issues between countries, he stressed that it is desirable that the parties concerned themselves should settle contentious matters in accordance with the international law.'
This, in effect, conveyed to the US that India would not support its meddling in issues like various disputes about maritime boundaries with China, especially in the South China Sea. But, neither would India like to see China transgressing the limits of engagement imposed by international laws.
The key presences of the scientific adviser to the defence minister V K Saraswat and the defence production secretary Shekhar Aggarwal in the contingent of Antony signalled that the two sides wanted to engage in talks on technology access and joint productions. The defence minister had emphasised this in his opening statement by talking about the country seeking to go beyond 'buyer-seller transactions and to focus on transfer of technologies and partnerships to build indigenous capabilities'.
While it is said that 'US friendship is worse than American enmity', Panetta had pointed out on Tuesday to Singh and Menon that India was the only country named as a partner in the President Barack Obama’s Strategic Guidance document.
But it is clear that the figure of $200 billion to be spent on modernisation of the Indian forces over a decade is proving to be a great driver to the Western countries, leading them to increasingly embrace India as a friend/partner/associate.
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