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'India, US have mutual desire for naval, maritime ties'

Hindustani78

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'India, US have mutual desire for naval, maritime ties' | Zee News
Last Updated: Thursday, March 19, 2015 - 14:35

Washington: With the convergence of strategic interest in the Indian Ocean there is a mutual desire for a deeper naval and maritime co-operation between India and the US, top Pentagon commanders have said.


"The convergence of strategic maritime interests in the Indian Ocean region to include the security of critical energy and trade routes, the denial of free passage to terrorists and weapons proliferators, and the need for effective responses to natural disasters have led to a greater mutual desire for deeper naval and maritime cooperation between India and the US," Navy Rear Adm Kevin M Donegan, acting deputy chief of Naval Operations for Operations, Plans and Strategy, said.

Appearing before the Senate Armed Committee, Donegan along with other naval leadership in a joint testimony said that the relationship with India is among the top 21st century priorities for the US.

The Department of Defence emphasised India's role in the Asia Pacific rebalance in its 2012 strategic defence guidance document titled 'Sustaining US Global Leadership: Priorities for 21st Century Defence', which states that "the US' economic and security interests are inextricably linked to developments in the arc extending from the Western Pacific and East Asia to the Indian Ocean region and South Asia".

"...The US is also investing in a long-term strategic partnership with India to support its ability to be a regional economic anchor and provider of security in the broader Indian Ocean," it said.

"But he said without any doubt China is building a modern and regionally powerful Navy with a modest but growing capability for conducting operations beyond China's near-seas region."

This creates both opportunities and challenges for the Navy.

"The issue at stake is the fundamental question of whether China will use its growing economic and military power to assert its interests without respect to international norms," he said.

Despite mounting concerns, the US seeks a positive, cooperative, and comprehensive relationship with China that welcomes China`s ability to take on a responsible leadership role, he said.

"The Navy and Marine Corps' overall military concept is a balance of deterrence and encouragement, inviting the Chinese Navy to play a responsible and constructive role in promoting security and peaceful development and join in coalition operations, as it has in countering piracy in the Indian Ocean," he added.

He said the combination of the Asia-Pacific's economic importance to the world economy, its proximity to US security interests, and its expansive geography require an increased US naval presence to maintain our commitment to the stability of the region.

"Evolving challenges in the region including the activities of China's more modern Navy and the proliferation of anti-access/area denial require that the Navy and Marine Corps maintain a coordinated, leading role in the region," he added.

PTI
 
New Indian leadership has energised Indo-US ties: Official | Zee News
Last Updated: Friday, March 20, 2015 - 06:37

Washington: The US remains heavily engaged with India and the strategic relationship between the two countries has energised under the new leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a top Pentagon commander has said.


"Last year, India held the largest election in its history. With new leadership in place, India is energising the US-India strategic partnership," Admiral Samuel J Locklear United States Navy Commander of Pacific Command has said.

The US military remains heavily engaged with New Delhi's military, having conducted 69 major exercises in the past five years, he said.

The Indian Navy continues its strong participation in multilateral exercises including INDRA with Russia, MALABAR with the US and Japan, and RIMPAC with 23 navies from across the Indo-Asia-Pacific, Locklear said.

Noting that over the past three years the US has been India's largest defence trading partner, Locklear said India's participation in these exercises signals its commitment as a regional security provider

"Through military modernisation, robust defence trade (C-17s, C-130Js, and P-8Is, among other items), and a growing network of defence partnerships, India is asserting its role as an important regional actor determined to protect common interests and ensure free access to economically vital sea lanes," he said.

"Although with respect to military activities, India still asserts a security interest in its EEZ that does not conform to the law of the sea," he said.

Testifying before the Congressional sub-committee, Locklear said China is executing a strategy that includes expanding outposts in contested areas through land reclamation on South China Sea features.

China is taking actions to prevent other nations from establishing / maintaining outposts, exploring for natural resources in disputed waters, and increasing its naval and air forces' presence through exercises and patrols, he said.

China's aggressive land reclamation and construction projects at eight South China Sea military outposts include new buildings, more capable berthing space for ships, and presumably an airfield on the Fiery Cross Reef (China's largest reclamation project), he said.

"The US does not take a position on issues of sovereignty with respect to territorial claims in the East and South China Sea, but we do insist that all maritime claims must be derived from land features in accordance with international law as reflected in the Law of the Sea Convention," Locklear said.

He said the US emphasised the importance that maritime and territorial disagreements be resolved peacefully in accordance with international law and opposes the use of intimidation, coercion, or force to assert claims.

PTI
 
India, US to jointly develop defense tech projects: US official | Zee News
Last Updated: Friday, March 27, 2015 - 07:50


Washington: India and the US will jointly work on several defence technology projects in an effort to develop a "vibrant science and technology cooperation" to strengthen national, regional and global security, a senior White House official has told American lawmakers.


"Developing vibrant defense science and technology cooperation is one of the key steps in building enduring partnership between India and the United States.

"In support of these efforts, researchers from the Department of Defense and the Indian Ministry of Defense are discussing potential research collaborations in developing models of cognitive fatigue, artificial cognition and traumatic brain injury," Jo Handelsman, associate director for science at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy told lawmakers during a Congressional hearing.

He said that last year US President Barack Obama and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had expressed their "intention to expand defense cooperation to bolster national, regional, and global security."

They had said India and the US would build an enduring partnership in which both sides could treat each other at the same level as their closest partners in the sectors of defense technology transfers, trade, research, co-production and co-development, he said.

The two countries had renewed their 10-year Defense Framework Agreement during Obama's Republic Day visit to India in January.

PTI
 
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