US General to India: Make up your mind on missile policy

South Block sources indicated Washington’s grouse was that the government had not proceeded with authoring a defined vision on missile defence for India, and even turned down the Pentagon’s offer in 2003 to help compile a missile defence doctrine based on NATO concepts.

Running parallel to Washington’s own pitch of the Patriot-3, Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee recently went on record to say that New Delhi was ‘‘not interested’’ in purchasing the system, but wanted to cooperate on technology for India to be able to build its own missile shield. Kohler claimed that this view ‘‘did not come up’’ at the briefings held over the last two days.

While Kohler refused comment on the contents of the briefing, it is understood that the team made a specific mention of a crucial Patriot-3 test held just yesterday, in which the system successfully intercepted and destroyed a tactical ballistic missile capable of carrying a WMD warhead, at the White Sands Missile Range.

Kohler, on his third visit here in under 10 months, brought with him a team from the US Air Force, US Navy and contractors Lockheed-Martin and Boeing, which provided a ‘‘third level of detail’’ on the F-16 Falcon and F/A-18 Super Hornet fighters. The latter will vie for the IAF’s imminent tender for 124 aircraft.