Pentagon for India taking up larger role on world stage

We really see India taking a larger role upon the world stage and understanding that they have a role as an emerging power and as a realised power and that they have a responsibility to be a part of the global community,” the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defence for South and Southeast Asia,Robert Scher,told reporters at a Pentagon news conference yesterday.

“I think you see it in the UN. You see it in the G-20.

And this is a lot of the strategic partnership that US President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh have talked about is working together to address regional and global issues,” Scher said in response to a question at the rare Pentagon news conference on India.

“Certainly out of the field of defence,but if you look at cooperation in Africa,where we are cooperating to deal with some development issues,if you look at peacekeeping operations and the tremendous commitment that India has made to international peacekeeping operations,you can’t but be impressed and see that this is a constructive role that they’re playing,” he said.

“I think the potential for this is also quite great. And this is where we look forward to doing some of our best work together in solving problems that confront the region and the globe,” Scher said.

Scher said US-India relationship is a priority for the Obama Administration and for Department of Defence,because they believe that a strong bilateral partnership is in the United States’ interests and benefits both of the countries.

“In the past decade,there has been a rapid transformation in the US-India defence relationship.

What was once a nascent relationship between unfamiliar nations has evolved into a real partnership between two of the pre-eminent powers in Asia,” he said. “Today,US-India defence ties are strong and growing. Our military-to-military engagement has increased steadily over the past 10 years,and now includes a robust slate of dialogues,military exercises,defence trade,personnel exchanges and armaments cooperation,” he said.

In a nine-page report to the Congress on Tuesday,the Pentagon acknowledged that India’s recent decision not to opt for America’s F-16 and F-18 fighters while buying 126 war planes was a setback.

“Despite this setback,we believe US aircraft,such as the Joint Strike Fighter JSF,to be the best in the world.

Should India indicate interest in the JSF,the US would be prepared to provide information on the JSF and its requirements infrastructure,security etc to support India’s future planning,” the Pentagon informed the US Congress.

Continually looking for ways to expand defence cooperation with India,the Pentagon said it is seeking opportunities for increased science and technology cooperation that may lead to co-development opportunities with India as a partner.

“The United States has taken many steps in recent years to facilitate science and technology and research and development cooperation with India. In so doing,we have signalled our unambiguous intent to pursue cooperative opportunities on increasingly sophisticated systems,” Pentagon said.

“As our relationship continues to mature,we expect co-development of armaments to become a reality,” it said.

Scher said it is for India to decide how F-35 fits into its military modernisation program.

“It’s not my job to figure out how it fits to the government of India’s approach. What we’re simply saying is that if it does fit into their approach,we would welcome the opportunity to discuss this with them,” he said.

“We will continue to provide examples of our best technology and our best equipment to fulfill the needs that the government of India and the military identify for themselves. And I think there’s a great potential to do much more,” Scher said.