Author: Robert D. Blackwill
Publication: The Hindu
Date: May 13, 2003
URL: http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/2003/05/13/stories/2003051301101000.htm
While joint training, visits, and
exchanges have become familiar evidence of how U.S.-India relations have
changed significantly... the way both countries now view defence sales
presages greater bilateral cooperation in the future.
A DRAMATIC demonstration of the
rapidly growing U.S.- India defence relationship recently took place in
the dense jungles of Mizoram. There, American Special Operations Forces
engaged their Indian counterparts in joint combined training called Exercise
Balance Iroquois 03-1/Vajra Prahar. This exercise taught some of the most
elite units in the U.S. and Indian armed forces how to employ combat teams
in jungle terrain more effectively; detect the characteristics and modus
operandi of terrorists operating within a jungle environment; and develop
more effective tactics for tracking, patrolling, reconnaissance, surveillance,
raids, and ambushes of terrorists operating in dense vegetation. Morale
and camaraderie among the troops on both sides were outstanding, U.S. and
Indian units learning from one another about the challenges of combating
terrorism in a jungle environment.
This initiative is one of a string
of "firsts" in the continuing transformation of U.S.-India relations, and
followed quickly on the heels of a most successful visit by General William
J. Begert, Commander, Pacific Air Forces, to India. Gen. Begert's trip,
his second to India within two years, involved a week-long tour of numerous
Indian Air Force (IAF) facilities, and hours of professional planning with
his IAF counterparts as well as with senior leaders of the Indian Army
and Indian Navy. A high point of the General's stay was when he piloted
India's newest and most sophisticated fighter, the SU-30MKI.Gen. Begert's
visit, in conjunction with other deliberations between the U.S. and India,
now sets the stage for an even more significant event: the first-ever air
combat exercises between the best U.S. and Indian fighter squadrons in
early 2004.
These dramatic advances in bilateral
defence interaction extend to all three services. Within the next few months
the U.S. Navy's elite SEALS and the Indian Navy's Marine Commando Force
will conduct their premier joint exercise to test their unconventional
and clandestine warfare skills. These collaborative activities - along
with a long line of training operations, seminars, senior officer exchanges,
and unit and ship visits that have taken place over the last two years
- signal that defence cooperation is a vibrant, visible, and expanding
aspect of the transformed U.S.-India relationship. From virtually no interaction
in January 2001, the United States and India today have completed seven
major military exercises, including Geronimo Thrust in Alaska, yet another
first-ever endeavour, which involved Indian forces and aircraft on American
soil. Other significant milestones were the first USAF-IAF airlift inter-operability
training operation, COPE INDIA 02, in Agra; and the first and largest peacekeeping
command-post exercise ever held in South Asia, co-hosted by the Indian
Army and U.S. Army Pacific.
This record demonstrates that the
United States and India have developed the understanding that comes from
a series of solid and expanding cooperation programmes. The last two years
have witnessed India taking on a leadership role in several new areas including
planning and training for multilateral peacekeeping operations. Further,
the Indian Army has agreed to co-host the 2004 Pacific Armies Management
Seminar (PAMS), a yearly meeting of the senior army leadership in the Pacific
region. India has also generously hosted the bi-annual visits of CAPSTONE,
the final training course required of all U.S. officers slated for promotion
to flag rank in each of the four military services, and the yearly visits
of all Senior Service War Colleges, the Command and General Staff College,
and Military Academy Cadets.
While joint training, visits, and
exchanges have become familiar evidence of how U.S.-India relations have
changed significantly for the better under the leadership of President
Bush and Prime Minister Vajpayee, the way both countries now view defence
sales also presages greater bilateral cooperation in the future. In this
area, there have been a number of breakthroughs recently that have put
the United States and India on the road to a stable, long-term defence
supply relationship. The Bush Administration has worked with the Congress
to amend the law requiring congressional notification of all applications
for export to India of items on the U.S. munitions list. Since October
24, 2002, only those Major Defence Equipment (MDE) items above $14 million
now require congressional notice. This modification puts India in the same
category with American Treaty Allies such as South Korea and Japan. India
has also recently leased several additional US fire-finding/weapon locating
radars, in addition to those already contracted for purchase. Representatives
from the Indian Army and the United States Army are examining the Indian
Army's request for significant Special Forces equipment and chemical and
biological protection gear. And the U.S. and India are looking into possible
sales of U.S. Navy P3 maritime patrol aircraft for the Indian Navy.
Taken together, our defence cooperation
and military sales activities intensify the working relationship between
the respective armed forces, build mutual military capacities for future
joint operations, and strengthen Indian military capability, which is in
America's national interest. As the recently issued National Security Strategy
of the United States, a policy document that bears the personal stamp of
President Bush, proclaimed:
"...the United States has undertaken
a transformation in its bilateral relationship with India based on a conviction
that U.S. interests require a strong relationship with India. We are the
two largest democracies, committed to political freedom protected by representative
government. India is moving toward greater economic freedom as well. We
have a common interest in the free flow of commerce, including through
the vital sea-lanes of the Indian Ocean. Finally, we share an interest
in fighting terrorism and in creating a strategically stable Asia... we
start with a view of India as a growing world power with which we have
common strategic interests."
Given this crucial conviction on
the part of the Bush Administration, what should the U.S.-India defence
relationship aim for in the future? In the near-term, we will successfully
conclude the next Defence Policy Group meeting in order to authorise more
ambitious initiatives for the year ahead. This could increase the scale,
diversity, and complexity of military exercises; advance cooperation in
missile defence; resuscitate the Joint Technical Group; and, review the
Agreed Minute on U.S.-India defence cooperation to accommodate both the
new defence institutions that have arisen in India, and the rapid progress
witnessed in our bilateral defence relations during the past two years.
Over the longer-term, our two countries
should aim to achieve other consequential goals. First, the U.S. and Indian
navies could plan and execute a variety of joint operations in the Indian
Ocean. Second, India could service the rest, repair, and replenishment
needs of various American military units operating around the South Asian
landmass. Third, the U.S. and India could share much more information,
improve doctrine, and conduct exercises in support of joint counter-proliferation
operations. Fourth, India could collaborate with the U.S. in peacekeeping
operations, including by playing a greater role in providing intra-theatre
lift for third countries involved in humanitarian or peacekeeping missions.
Finally, U.S.-India defence trade, particularly through the Foreign Military
Sales (FMS) programme, should increase in order to bolster bilateral defence
ties and boost inter-operability between U.S. forces and those of India.
An Indian military that is capable
of operating effectively alongside its American counterparts remains an
important goal of our bilateral defence relationship. What we have achieved
since January 2001 builds a strong foundation on which to consummate this
strategic objective, which will promote peace and freedom in Asia, and
beyond.
(The writer is the U.S. Ambassador
to India.)
