Eye on China, US sending Panetta to push India ties

[CaptainJackSparrow]

Eye on China, US sending Panetta to push India ties​

WASHINGTON: US defence secretary Leon Panetta will visit India in early June, for two days, to further develop US-India ties that American officials, with an eye on China, say is a "priority" for Washington and which the Obama administration repeatedly describes as "one of the defining partnerships of the 21st century for the US".

Panetta will arrive in New Delhi on June 5 after a swing through South East Asia during which he will confer with a host of countries that have a pro-US orientation and are leery of China.

"We are absolutely turning toward the Asia-Pacific as a place where our strategic interests are increasingly of importance," Pentagon spokesman George Little said. "Our partnerships ... in the region are critical. And we're going to continue to invest in those relationships."

India, notwithstanding New Delhi's public reticence, is clearly a part of that calculus. Obama and his cabinet principals have been backing its interests in East Asia and the Pacific region even as both sides balk at any talk of containing China. Protestations about its growing concerns about China aside, Panetta's schedule and programme in Asia are indicative of US disquiet in this regard.

Ahead of his travels, Panetta will receive briefings in Hawaii from admiral Sam Locklear, head of the Pacific Command, under whose watch both China and India fall (Pakistan and west of it come under Central Command), before emplaning for Singapore where he will deliver remarks at the opening plenary session of the Shangri-La Dialogues. In Singapore, he will meet with leaders from Singapore, Japan, South Korea , Australia and a number of other nations, most of which are guarded about China.

Thereafter Panetta will embark on a two-day visit to Vietnam, a stark reminder of the sweeping geo-political reorientation that can occur with US, considering it sacrificed nearly 60,000 soldiers to stem the advance of communism in the country.

Panetta, a former Congressman and a White House Chief of Staff, has visited India before in his capacity CIA director, but it will be his first visit to New Delhi as defence secretary, a trip that suggests Washington has gotten over its pique at being denied a piece of the multi-role combat aircraft contract.

Eye on China, US sending Panetta to push India ties - The Times of India