An image, taken from the Pentagon's website, of my asking Panetta in Delhi why the US was holding back on providing India technology for the Javelin missile. Panetta emphatically rejected that the US was holding back... but I know that he was being economical with the truth.
American
Forces Press Service has reported on Ashton Carter’s account of his visit to
the Asia-Pacific (Japan, Thailand, India and South Korea in that order) at the
end of last month. Karen Parrish
of American
Forces Press Service has reported on Ashton Carter’s account of his visit to
the Asia-Pacific (Japan, Thailand, India and South Korea in that order) at the
end of last month. Here are excerpts from what he said on 27th July
12, on board a special aircraft back to Washington.
“I think that what our
partners and allies in this region are looking for is confirmation that the
United States is serious and concrete about shifting … a great deal of our
emphasis from the places we have been -- of necessity -- preoccupied for the
last decade, namely Iraq and Afghanistan, to the Asia-Pacific region.”
Carter revealed that he
gave allies a level of planning detail and a number of examples relating to
specific U.S. strategic rebalancing events that helped them understand “that we
are, as I said at the beginning of the trip, walking the walk and not just
talking the talk.”
Carter cited two reasons
for his confidence that DOD can rebalance to the Asia-Pacific even with a
constrained defense budget.
Firstly, the excess
capacity already freed up from Iraq and the additional capacity that will
become available as the US draws down from Afghanistan. Those resources will be
diverted towards building up the U.S. military posture in the Asia-Pacific
region.
“The second reason is that
we are prioritizing capabilities that are particularly relevant to this region
in our budget…. Even though we don’t have all the money we want, we have all
the money we need for the Asia-Pacific,” said Carter.
On his visit to India,
Carter said: “…In India, which was very important … I discussed with all of the
senior leadership in the Indian government ways that we can strengthen our
cooperation and deepen it technologically.”
Noting that India does not
just want to be a customer for US weaponry, Carter said: “They have a proud
technological heritage. And they want a relationship that enriches that, and
enables that -- not just a buyer-seller relationship.”
Carter said that the US had
been backstopping Asian security for decades: “We have been playing this role
in the Asia-Pacific theater for many decades. And all we’re saying is that we
intend to continue to play it. That needs to be emphasized, because many people
in the region and also in our own country have been preoccupied, very
understandably, with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.”
“And
they may have lost sight of the fact that an anchoring commitment of global
security is here in the Asia-Pacific region,” said Carter, “and we are that
anchor.”
A technology relationship with USA is not going to happen. USA will never approve that.
ReplyDeleteLet us be frank, all the US hardware being bought left right and centre is payback for the nuclear deal.
ReplyDeleteI am not sure US is really keen to share its top line technologies with India. They are virtually guarenteed an income stream from India, so why should they? I think we have to just grin-n-bear it. We are going to spend our money on US hardware sans the ToT. It is pay back. No free lunches esp in the US. Accept it and move on.
Our relationship with the US will remain half baked. Our strategic interests are not fully alligned. US wants India to be the next UK, and we want to the next France. They want a ready market (milking cow) for US exports, where as we want to an equal partner.
One only has to see how American pressure has opened up Indian insurance industry. Next it will be retail - and I dont think there is anything wrong with either of the examples.
Just see the creeping dilution of defense offset clauses, the slowly increasing pressure to sign interoperablity agreements, and I can see India being in firm US orbit within 10-15yrs.
I think we are much better off buying things from other nations that would be more willing to share techology and go in for joint development. Their interests more more commercial than geo-strategic. So our money talks when it comes to other suppliers (apart from the US).
Why would the U.S., part with technology? They would never do it for the simple fact that it's not in their best interests.
ReplyDeleteThey want/need a customer not a competitor!