India US Relations

[no smoking]

USA is India's are natural ally. Both are democratic nations believers in freedom and liberty . Both are multicultural and multilingual societies. The educational system and legal systems are almost identical.
Both nations are technology savvy. Both are believers in free enterprise and individual property rights.
The closest natural ally to India is undoubtedly United States.

Since when did American choose their friends or allies with these standards in mind?
America has been the allies and supporters of those Arabian Emirs, are these Emirs democratic leaders also?
In south America, with USA money and help, those generals overthrew their democratic elected leaders and controlled their countries with iron fists.
In Egypt, the former dictator stayed in power for more than 30 years with the blessing of American. And now, the current dictator got his crown with blood on his hand, again with the blessing of American.

No, my friend, American interest is the only thing matters how you choose your ally.

 

[no smoking]

I did not mean the US is perfect. No nation is perfect. I would choose US anytime over throat cutter, fanatical, islamic barbarians....I would choose US over communists where you have to ask permission to breathe from your super comerades... US is free, developed and there is a chance for everyone to voice their opinion. Luckily, India also have freedom of speech and democracy.. I see many fundamental values which converge between US and India.
If US is not great..why people from every corner of the World want to come and live here ? There has to be something great about this nation.

No, US is only great to her own citizens. She is nightmare to the people outside. She has done too much evil things in other countries. People would love to come and live in US. But unfortunately, US can't accept most of people in this world to come and live within her. The freedom and democracy you enjoy everyday in US is not cheap. In the case of US, these beautiful things come with the blood of those poor people living in poor countries.

 

[airtel]

Modi and Trump: When the titans of hate politics meet

Narendra Modi's meeting with Donald Trump was nothing more than a publicity stunt.

• India's Narendra Modi is back in Washington, DC. In India, the prime minister is known for his travels around the world. He is rarely home. No amount of chaos in the country, not even the epidemic of violence against oppressed castes and Muslims by lynch mobs, could keep Mr Modi home. He has more important concerns than the turmoil experienced by his citizens.
  
  Meeting US President Donald Trump is an important sign of being a world leader. Modi's base - which sees him as a strong man - is enamoured by the idea of their leader sitting with Trump. After all, they are both strong men who have nothing but contempt for weakness. Both easily shrug off domestic chaos. Both leave details to others to care for. They see themselves as visionaries, as a new breed of nationalists who represent the hatred of large sections of their citizenry. It is hate that brought them both to power. It is hate that anchors their agenda.
  
  INSIDE STORY: Is India becoming more intolerant? (25:00)
  
  
  For nine years - from 2005 to 2014 - Modi was banned from entering the United States. Allegations of his complicity in the 2002 pogroms against Muslims in his home state of Gujarat drew a sharp response from the US government. It decided to deny him a visa, a policy that was overturned when Modi became prime minister.
  
  He visited the US in 2014 and had a private dinner with then US President Barack Obama at the White House. It was full-scale rehabilitation. Modi then returned each year - holding a public meeting at Facebook's headquarters in 2015 and addressing a joint session of the US Congress in 2016. The current visit is his fourth since he won the Indian general election in 2014.
  
  Both Obama and Trump have been eager to fete Modi. They have recognised that in the current political climate in India, he and his political party - the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) - are going to be around for a while and will perhaps win the 2019 elections as well. From the US perspective, Modi has to be engaged, so the allegations of his complicity in the Gujarat riots are irrelevant. Pragmatism means that morality can be set aside.
  
  The politics of hate and the economy of weapons
  Not only do Modi and Trump lead movements anchored in hate, but they also appeal to an old-fashioned form of nationalism. Both tell their people that policies are all about getting the best deal possible. And this is where both men will face problems. Despite all the warm words about a new Indo-US arrangement over the past two decades, great divergences exist over actual policies.
  
  OPINION: India is fast becoming a one-party state
  
  Indian governments since 1991 sold out their agrarian sector to US-based agro-businesses, leading to great agrarian distress. The subsequent financial pressure on small farms and various environmental catastrophes led to more than 300,000 farmers committing suicide.
  
  What Modi can do for Trump is buy more US weapons.
  
  
  
  The pushback against these gifts to US agro-business means that Modi cannot bend further to please the Trump administration's trade ambitions. Nor would Modi's Make In India initiative go well with a long-standing US desire to open India's markets to US retail giants such as Walmart.
  
  Modi would like to do all he can to please the Americans, but he would be met with a million mutinies within his own governing bloc if he does so. Nationalism is a curious device. It can easily give you votes, but it also raises the expectations of your voters.
  
  But what Modi can do for Trump is buy more US weapons. India is the world's largest importer of weapons, while the US is the world's largest seller of weapons.
  
  It is of course a vulgarity that India - where 50 percent of the population lives in deprivation - spends so much of its budget on weapons. But today it is how the government chooses its priorities - ignoring the pressing needs of its population in order to service Western arms dealers.
  
  Nationalism is no enemy to defence spending. Just before Modi's trip to the US, his government sealed a deal to buy 22 US Predator drones at a price of $2bn. Trump surely liked that. He likes to brag about such deals. That it will be the impoverished Indian population paying for it is irrelevant to both heads of state. How 22 drones will help alleviate poverty is something that no reporter could have asked them at their joint news conference. Such a question would have been too vulgar.
  
  OPINION: A 'new India' where fringe is the mainstream
  
  But apart from this arms deal that came before Modi arrived in the US, little else was accomplished during Modi's visit.
  
  During his meeting with Trump, Modi avoided explaining how his protectionist policies would accommodate balancing the trade deficit between the US and India. Trump, on the other hand, dodged the question on pulling out of the Paris climate agreement, which Modi so adamantly supports.
  
  The two men - pickled in the politics of hate - got to know one another and nothing more.
  
  There was a great deal of back-slapping, mutual praise and displays of machismo. There was a great deal of bragging and making big promises.
  
  This is something that Modi and Trump share: empty rhetoric delivered with no care that policies will not follow. Drama is everything. Publicity matters the most.

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/op...itans-hate-politics-meet-170627071921536.html

So happy with this comparison .......

Al -Jazeera is giving More publicity to Modi ........Now all those countries who are victim of Islamic terrorism will support Modi .

 

[desicanuk]

Modi and Trump: When the titans of hate politics meet

Narendra Modi's meeting with Donald Trump was nothing more than a publicity stunt.

Would you expect any better from an Islamist anti-India propagandist organisation run by an arab state.Not to mention the article was penned by a left-wing congress loving secular hindu journalist - a species favoured by arabs,pakistanis and lefties of Europe and North America.

 

[prohumanity]

I will choose US any day over those barbaric throatcutters who do heinous killings for their 'god"
In late 1990s when the rest of the world was trebling with fear of terrorists, it was US who took the risk of fighting and destroying them.
Do you want to choose terrorist nations over USA ? Your choice but I would like US, India and Russia on one side and the barbarians on the other. As I said, no nation is perfect...and US is not perfect either..but it is better than sharia law, fanatical countries where women and non muslims are persecuted everyday.

 

[no smoking]

I will choose US any day over those barbaric throatcutters who do heinous killings for their 'god" In late 1990s when the rest of the world was trebling with fear of terrorists, it was US who took the risk of fighting and destroying them.

Well, you forget one thing: these Islamic terrorists were created by US in the first place. Yes, it was CIA came up with this brilliant idea: inspiring those Afgan kids to kill for their 'god'.

Even today, there are still certain parts of terrorists are coming out of the training camp host by Americans. Of course, Americans don't call them terrorists but "freedom fighter".

Do you want to choose terrorist nations over USA ? Your choice but I would like US, India and Russia on one side and the barbarians on the other.

Unfortunately, US is on her own side.

As I said, no nation is perfect...and US is not perfect either..but it is better than sharia law, fanatical countries where women and non muslims are persecuted everyday.

Well, to the people in third country, US is as same as those "barbarian" countries. Being killed by the bomb dropped by B-52 doesn't make you feel any better than being killed by the suicide bomb with the name of "God".

 

[Yggdrasil]

No, US is only great to her own citizens. She is nightmare to the people outside.

While I agree with you, I would argue that the US is still one step ahead of China, which is a nightmare to her own citizens and also to the rest of the world. The CPC is a toxic organization, poisoning the minds of its own people and poking its violent nose into everyone else's affairs.

 

[no smoking]

While I agree with you, I would argue that the US is still one step ahead of China, which is a nightmare to her own citizens and also to the rest of the world. The CPC is a toxic organization, poisoning the minds of its own people and poking its violent nose into everyone else's affairs.

Well, I guess I can't argue against a fanboy who knows China only through other people's book, paper and TV. No one can change a person's opinion which is built entirely on others' opinion.

 

[airtel]

Don't Underestimate India's Cunning Narendra Modi



Harry G. Broadman,

CONTRIBUTOR

I advise, speak and write on global markets and business strategy.

Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.

US President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi embrace in the Rose Garden during a joint press conference at the White House in Washington, DC, June 26, 2017. (NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images)

With Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s state visit to Washington this week, many Americans were made aware for the first time of the gregariousness of the Indian leader who took the reins in Delhi in May 2014. But not in terms of the energy he has poured into, and the successes generated from, his initial programmatic reforms of the economy of the world’s second most populous country, indeed an economy whose growth rate has been exceeding that ofChina. Rather, the conventional press headlines and photos of the visit centered on what seemed to be a frivolous big bear hug Modi gave to U.S. President Donald Trump.

In fact, the bear hug shocked the U.S. President, ironically in the same way are people whose hands Trump initially shakes in conventional fashion but are then pulled into Trump’s clutches up close and personal. Modi gave Trump a taste of hisown medicine.

And, then Modi caught Trump even more off guard in their substantive discussions by deliberately not tabling at all the issue of moves by the U.S. to clamp down on H1 visas, which control the flow of Indian (and other foreign) workers for jobs with firms on U.S. soil. Nor did Modi raise his displeasure with the U.S. administration’s backing out of the Paris global warming accord. Trump and his team—ready to pounce on Modi at his very mention of these issues—were left scratching their heads.

In my book, it was smart for Modi to keep this White House on its toes. The starkly different positions on the H1 visa and climate change issues were well-known on both sides and nothing would have been gained by Modi to mention them in this setting. There were only downside risks. Instead, it allowed Modi to create an environment for his non-governmental meetings with U.S. businesses and investors—usually the most important part of state visits anyhow—where the stellar performance of the Indian economy could speak for itself.

But don’t let Modi’s conduct at the White House fool you. They were not frivolous; nor is he. He knows full well that his work is cut out for him in trying to overhaul a supremely complex, multi-layered, and largely still ossified economy that has not been subjected to any serious systemic reform by an Indian leader during our lifetimes.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/harryb...te-indias-cunning-narendra-modi/#61ab6c8123b4

 

[Cutting Edge 2]

US releases UAV technology to India, mulls Predator deal
July 21, 2017

The US has confirmed that the critical Category One UAV technology from US-based General Atomics has been released, acceding to India’s strong request. Also, the Indian Air Force has requested for 100 units of Predator C Avenger aircraft worth $8 bn.

Highly placed sources told FE, “The White House under President Donald Trump spearheaded the interagency process to make a very significant policy change in favour for India by granting this technology as desired by India based on senior Indian government requests.”

As reported by FE earlier, Indian Navy had sent the letter of request for 22 Sea Guardians in June 2016 and under the Obama administration no tangible action was taken. However, the biggest tangible take away from the Trump-Modi deliberations in Washington DC recently was operationalisation of the major defence partner relationship.
General Atomics chief executive Vivek Lall, a former Boeing official and NASA scientist, who is considered as the father of US India defence relations, met US Vice President Pence post the Prime Minister Modi visit.

Lall had commented, “We are extremely pleased President Trump and Prime Minister Modi have had excellent deliberations and the path forward for a game changer in US India defence relations has been charted. Given the Sea Guardian’s capabilities such a US response to the Indian Navy request demonstrates a major change in US policy because this type of aircraft capability is only exported to a very select few of America’s closest defence partners. This represents tangible implementation of US Congress’ designation of India as a major defence partner.”

According to sources, India has been requesting predator technology for several years, and it was only the combination of Trump and Modi that they were able to move the decision to this point. India was able to join MTCR after significant role of United States backing its entry. Observers term this as another major foreign policy success for Modi.

Earlier this year, the Indian Air Force (IAF) had also officially requested the US government for General Atomics Predator C Avenger aircraft. This request is being actively considered by the White House as a second step after operationalising the 22 Guardian aircraft for the Indian Navy.

As military aviation transforms globally to autonomous systems, US and India have a great opportunity to collaborate at the highest levels of technology and innovation. Overall Indian requirement for UAVs is approximately 650 units.

http://www.financialexpress.com/ind...chnology-to-india-mulls-predator-deal/772379/

 

[F-14B]

After calling UP CM head of militant Hindu temple, NY Times now criticises PM Modi

http://www.indiasamvad.co.in/top-stories/ny-times-now-target-pm-modi-23214#.WW8mwpAB-SB.twitter


After calling UP CM head of militant Hindu temple, NY Times now criticises PM Modi
The article ‘India’s Turn Toward Intolerance’ said that “Under Mr. Modi’s leadership, growth has slowed, jobs have not materialised, and what has actually been unleashed is virulent intolerance.

India Samvad Digital Desk
Washington: The US-based New York Times in its editorial has said that in India, under PM Modi’s rule, growth has slowed, jobs have not materialised, but a deadly intolerance has risen.

The article titled ‘India’s Turn Toward Intolerance’ published by the NY Time’s editorial board on Monday said that Modi’s landslide victory in 2014 was borne on his promises to unleash India’s economic potential and build a bright future.

The article said that PM Modi during his 2014 election campaign had played down the Hindu nationalist roots of his Bharatiya Janata Party.

But, the article added, “Under Mr. Modi’s leadership, growth has slowed, jobs have not materialised, and what has actually been unleashed is virulent intolerance that threatens the foundation of the secular nation envisioned by its founders”.

The editorial said that since PM Modi took the office, there has been an alarming rise in mob attacks against people, accused of eating beef or abusing cows, which mostly included Muslims.

The NYT’s article also criticised the BJP government’s notification banning cattle trade for slaughter saying that the ban hit the Muslims community and low-caste Hindus, who are traditionally engaged in the meat and leather industry.



The article while saying that the cattle trade ban was against Modi’s supposed priorities: employment, economic growth and boosting exports, adversely impacted the $16 billion industry, which employs millions of workers and generated $4 billion in export income in 2016.

The NYT’s editorial also criticised PM Modi and BJP for appointing Yogi Adityanath as the chief minister of UP.

The article also accused the censor board Chief Pahlaj Nihalani of working to protect PM Modi and the BJP from criticism.

To support its accusations, the editorial piece cited the example of a documentary film on Nobel Prize-winning economist Amartya Sen, which was asked to cut the words cow, Hindu India, Hindutva view of India and Gujarat to get the required clearance.


@Neo @nimo_cn @Zarvan

Quite rich coming from a guy who's onw PM is a fraudster and who's Military is a bunch of Uniformed jihadis @rock127 @Akshay_Fenix @Pinky Chaudhary @LETHALFORCE @Kunal Biswas @mayfair @aditya10r

 

[rock127]

Quite rich coming from a guy who's onw PM is a fraudster and who's Military is a bunch of Uniformed jihadis @rock127 @Akshay_Fenix @Pinky Chaudhary @LETHALFORCE @Kunal Biswas @mayfair @aditya10r

Americans talking about "militancy". Their 51st state(Canada) is a big hub of separatists and runaway terrorists and their "cute boy" PM even rewards terrorists in million.You should check how Tarek Fateh exposes that Justin Trudeau often.US created ISIS is the worst kept secret...NYT should concentrate reporting about it.

A place where blacks are still killed like dogs on streets and even anything which has some skin color.Not long ago a old Indian man was beaten to almost death. America is full of double standards of the highest level.

The more they hate Sangh/RSS the more it rises.Now add Indian President too.

 

[Cutting Edge 2]

BREAKING: Trump's daughter coming to India in Nov.

 

[Cutting Edge 2]

US ready to help India modernise its military in ‘significant’ ways: Admiral Harris
Aug 13, 2017

The US is ready to help India modernise its military and jointly they can improve India’s military capabilities in “significant and meaningful” ways, a top American commander has said.

Over the past decade, the defence trade between the US and India has touched nearly $15 billion and is expected to gallop in the next few years, as India is looking at the US for some of the latest military hardware including fighter jets, latest unmanned aerial vehicles and aircraft carriers.

“I believe that the US is ready to help India modernise its military. India has been designated a major defence partner of the US. This is a strategic declaration that’s unique to India and the US. It places India on the same level that we have many of our treaty allies,” Commander of the US Pacific Command or PACOM Admiral Harry Harris told PTI.

“This is important, and I believe that together we will be able to improve India’s military capabilities in significant and meaningful ways,” said Harris, who has been personally pushing for a strong India-US defence relationship.

The Admiral said he is fairly happy with the level of defence cooperation that exists today between the two sides.

“We have been partners with India in the Malabar exercise series, the maritime exercise, for a number of years. I participated in one of the very first... one of the early Malabars, in 1995,” he recollected, reflecting on the decades- old association with India.

Noting that the exercise, and the complexity of it, has improved steadily over the years, he said he is very pleased that Japan is part of Malabar.

“I think the trilateral relationship between India and Japan and the US, that relationship is very important,” he said, while advocating that Australia too should join this group.

“We could explore together bringing Australia into the exercise. That has merit. There’s a lot of common interests in the Indian Ocean, between Australia and India. But that’s really a decision for India to make, and then a decision for Australia to participate, if so invited. I’ll leave that to those two countries,” Harris said in response to a question.

According to Harris, there is a lot that India and the US can do together.

“I’m pleased that India is a participant in Rim of the Pacific Exercise (RIMPAC), the Pacific exercise that’s hosted every other year in Hawaii. I’m pleased in general with where the relationship is going, and I look forward to more as the years progress,” he said.

Responding to a question on India’s decision against the American move to have a joint India-US naval patrol in the Indian Ocean, Harris said the US is not disappointed at all.

“I’m not disappointed. This is on the patrols... I’m not disappointed at all, I’m encouraged that we were able to have a discussion about it, and I hope that that discussion remains open,” he said.

“We stand ready to participate at whatever level India wants us to participate,” Harris said.

Harris refrained from giving any answer on India and the United States starting to share information about Chinese submarines in the Indian Ocean region.

“I don’t want to answer the question, because I don’t want to imply that I’m sharing intelligence, or anything like that. I’ll just simply say that a close relationship between US and India is clearly helpful to the United States, and I believe helpful to India as well,” Harris said in response.

Harris reiterated that he believes that the deepening US-India relationship is the defining strategic partnership for the 21st century.

“I’m very interested, and very supportive, of what’s happening in India. The Indian armed forces, and that whole piece...I think that the opportunities for our two countries are simply great. It’s fantastic,” Harris said.

Noting that India remains an important line of effort at Pacific Command, Harris said America’s national leadership is working closely with India’s to grow the partnership between the two countries.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/india...iral-harris/story-b6FS8CngRCOM4eoiEp4mHI.html

 

[ezsasa]

US ready to help India modernise its military in ‘significant’ ways: Admiral Harris
Aug 13, 2017

The US is ready to help India modernise its military and jointly they can improve India’s military capabilities in “significant and meaningful” ways, a top American commander has said.

Over the past decade, the defence trade between the US and India has touched nearly $15 billion and is expected to gallop in the next few years, as India is looking at the US for some of the latest military hardware including fighter jets, latest unmanned aerial vehicles and aircraft carriers.

“I believe that the US is ready to help India modernise its military. India has been designated a major defence partner of the US. This is a strategic declaration that’s unique to India and the US. It places India on the same level that we have many of our treaty allies,” Commander of the US Pacific Command or PACOM Admiral Harry Harris told PTI.

“This is important, and I believe that together we will be able to improve India’s military capabilities in significant and meaningful ways,” said Harris, who has been personally pushing for a strong India-US defence relationship.

The Admiral said he is fairly happy with the level of defence cooperation that exists today between the two sides.

“We have been partners with India in the Malabar exercise series, the maritime exercise, for a number of years. I participated in one of the very first... one of the early Malabars, in 1995,” he recollected, reflecting on the decades- old association with India.

Noting that the exercise, and the complexity of it, has improved steadily over the years, he said he is very pleased that Japan is part of Malabar.

“I think the trilateral relationship between India and Japan and the US, that relationship is very important,” he said, while advocating that Australia too should join this group.

“We could explore together bringing Australia into the exercise. That has merit. There’s a lot of common interests in the Indian Ocean, between Australia and India. But that’s really a decision for India to make, and then a decision for Australia to participate, if so invited. I’ll leave that to those two countries,” Harris said in response to a question.

According to Harris, there is a lot that India and the US can do together.

“I’m pleased that India is a participant in Rim of the Pacific Exercise (RIMPAC), the Pacific exercise that’s hosted every other year in Hawaii. I’m pleased in general with where the relationship is going, and I look forward to more as the years progress,” he said.

Responding to a question on India’s decision against the American move to have a joint India-US naval patrol in the Indian Ocean, Harris said the US is not disappointed at all.

“I’m not disappointed. This is on the patrols... I’m not disappointed at all, I’m encouraged that we were able to have a discussion about it, and I hope that that discussion remains open,” he said.

“We stand ready to participate at whatever level India wants us to participate,” Harris said.

Harris refrained from giving any answer on India and the United States starting to share information about Chinese submarines in the Indian Ocean region.

“I don’t want to answer the question, because I don’t want to imply that I’m sharing intelligence, or anything like that. I’ll just simply say that a close relationship between US and India is clearly helpful to the United States, and I believe helpful to India as well,” Harris said in response.

Harris reiterated that he believes that the deepening US-India relationship is the defining strategic partnership for the 21st century.

“I’m very interested, and very supportive, of what’s happening in India. The Indian armed forces, and that whole piece...I think that the opportunities for our two countries are simply great. It’s fantastic,” Harris said.

Noting that India remains an important line of effort at Pacific Command, Harris said America’s national leadership is working closely with India’s to grow the partnership between the two countries.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/india...iral-harris/story-b6FS8CngRCOM4eoiEp4mHI.html

This admiral Harris is giving too many quotes to Indian media lately which are above his pay grade.

 

[Yggdrasil]

US ready to help India modernise its military in ‘significant’ ways: Admiral Harris
Aug 13, 2017

The US is ready to help India modernise its military and jointly they can improve India’s military capabilities in “significant and meaningful” ways, a top American commander has said.

Over the past decade, the defence trade between the US and India has touched nearly $15 billion and is expected to gallop in the next few years, as India is looking at the US for some of the latest military hardware including fighter jets, latest unmanned aerial vehicles and aircraft carriers.

“I believe that the US is ready to help India modernise its military. India has been designated a major defence partner of the US. This is a strategic declaration that’s unique to India and the US. It places India on the same level that we have many of our treaty allies,” Commander of the US Pacific Command or PACOM Admiral Harry Harris told PTI.

“This is important, and I believe that together we will be able to improve India’s military capabilities in significant and meaningful ways,” said Harris, who has been personally pushing for a strong India-US defence relationship.

The Admiral said he is fairly happy with the level of defence cooperation that exists today between the two sides.

“We have been partners with India in the Malabar exercise series, the maritime exercise, for a number of years. I participated in one of the very first... one of the early Malabars, in 1995,” he recollected, reflecting on the decades- old association with India.

Noting that the exercise, and the complexity of it, has improved steadily over the years, he said he is very pleased that Japan is part of Malabar.

“I think the trilateral relationship between India and Japan and the US, that relationship is very important,” he said, while advocating that Australia too should join this group.

“We could explore together bringing Australia into the exercise. That has merit. There’s a lot of common interests in the Indian Ocean, between Australia and India. But that’s really a decision for India to make, and then a decision for Australia to participate, if so invited. I’ll leave that to those two countries,” Harris said in response to a question.

According to Harris, there is a lot that India and the US can do together.

“I’m pleased that India is a participant in Rim of the Pacific Exercise (RIMPAC), the Pacific exercise that’s hosted every other year in Hawaii. I’m pleased in general with where the relationship is going, and I look forward to more as the years progress,” he said.

Responding to a question on India’s decision against the American move to have a joint India-US naval patrol in the Indian Ocean, Harris said the US is not disappointed at all.

“I’m not disappointed. This is on the patrols... I’m not disappointed at all, I’m encouraged that we were able to have a discussion about it, and I hope that that discussion remains open,” he said.

“We stand ready to participate at whatever level India wants us to participate,” Harris said.

Harris refrained from giving any answer on India and the United States starting to share information about Chinese submarines in the Indian Ocean region.

“I don’t want to answer the question, because I don’t want to imply that I’m sharing intelligence, or anything like that. I’ll just simply say that a close relationship between US and India is clearly helpful to the United States, and I believe helpful to India as well,” Harris said in response.

Harris reiterated that he believes that the deepening US-India relationship is the defining strategic partnership for the 21st century.

“I’m very interested, and very supportive, of what’s happening in India. The Indian armed forces, and that whole piece...I think that the opportunities for our two countries are simply great. It’s fantastic,” Harris said.

Noting that India remains an important line of effort at Pacific Command, Harris said America’s national leadership is working closely with India’s to grow the partnership between the two countries.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/india...iral-harris/story-b6FS8CngRCOM4eoiEp4mHI.html

Yes Admiral, you will help us, by selling us unmanned drones for US$3 billion. It's like how China is "helping" Pakistan through CPEC.

 

[here2where]

This admiral Harris is giving too many quotes to Indian media lately which are above his pay grade.

More important, who is making him say what he says. And why?

 

[ezsasa]

More important, who is making him say what he says. And why?

My guess would be the usual american arrogance which stems from ignorance about india. probably the guy would be interacting more with south east asian countries and assuming that we are on the same level.

only when the guy stays atleast for a month or two in india, will he realise the scale of the country.

 

[Cutting Edge 2]

India, US take bilateral ties to a new level

NEW DELHI: India and the US are scheduling the first meeting of the newly established "2+2" format, of the defence and foreign ministers from each side. This new high-level mechanism will be in addition to the strategic and commercial dialogue that is an annual feature between the two countries.

The new high-level dialogue mechanism was confirmed during a conversation between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump on Independence Day. A readout of the conversation said, "The leaders resolved toenhance peace and stability across the Indo-Pacific region+ by establishing a new 2-by-2 ministerial dialogue that will elevate their strategic consultations."

During the Obama years, the India-US dialogue mechanism included the secretaries of state and commerce, which was then the focus of the relationship. But commerce and trade have always been the weak links of the relationship, while defence and strategic affairs have dominated the bilateral landscape. Officials said the US-India dialogue mechanism was only following the format of US talks with Japan, China and even Australia.
...

 

[Cutting Edge 2]

US, Japan push Delhi for axis

New Delhi, Aug. 18: The US and Japan have renewed their push for a loose multilateral coalition in the Indo-Pacific with partners like India, which has traditionally hedged its bets in the tense region, amid New Delhi's longest border stand-off with Beijing in three decades.

The nudge, articulated last evening Washington time by US secretary of state Rex Tillerson with Japanese officials next to him, follows closely the declaration of a new heavyweight strategic dialogue between India and the US, also focused on the same region.

India has in the past resisted the formation of a broad coalition of regional powers that can feed into China's suggestions of an American and Japanese-led effort to contain its rise. Instead, India - with its own worries about China - has preferred trilateral dialogue mechanisms, with Japan and the US, and with Australia and Japan, to supplement bilateral partnerships.

But India is at present locked in a border tangle with China at the Doklam plateau that both Thimphu and Beijing claim. New Delhi views the plateau as critical for its security because of its proximity to a narrow strip that connects the Northeast to the rest of the country.

To sections of the strategic establishment, the fresh push from the US and Japan for an idea India has traditionally resisted appears timed with New Delhi's need for staunch diplomatic support at the moment.

But other senior officials said the government was confident it could gain from the broader, shared desire for greater strategic cooperation with the US and Japan without rushing into a larger coalition.

"We feel there is great synergy in our strategic goals," foreign ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said in response to a question from The Telegraph today on an August 15 telephone conversation between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump.

The US and Japan had early this decade proposed a strategic "quadrilateral" - consisting also of Australia and India - to collectively balance China's increasing assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific, where it is locked in disputes with six countries.

India, though reluctant, had indicated it may contemplate the proposal - but Australia, after publicly accepting it, had pulled out, leading to a collapse of the idea.

India has since been reluctant about joining such broader coalitions that China can label efforts aimed against it. Earlier this year, it held back on accepting Australia's request to join as a full member in the trilateral Malabar maritime exercises conducted by India, the US and Japan annually.

Part of India's reluctance, officials here said, stems from at times diverging priorities. At the moment, the Trump administration is focused on the tensions on the Korean peninsula following a string of missile and nuclear tests by North Korea.

"We will cooperate to advance trilateral and multilateral security and defence cooperation with other partners in the region, notably the Republic of Korea, Australia, India and other south-east Asian countries," Tillerson said after a meeting last evening with US defence secretary James Mattis and their Japanese counterparts, where the emphasis was on North Korea.

For Japan, the North Korean threat and China's regional assertion represent parallel long-term challenges. India has criticised North Korea in language stronger than ever, but China is its biggest concern - now and long-term.

Still, India, the US and Japan have managed to build a trilateral dialogue. Expanding it further, officials here said, could jeopardise the very point of the initiative - a sharply defined, common set of priorities.

The new bilateral mechanism Modi and Trump discussed during their phone conversation will be similar to the one Tillerson and Mattis held yesterday with Japan - with the Indian foreign and defence ministers in place of the Japanese.

That's a mechanism, officials here said, that India can use to emphasise the need for the US to stick to its role as a security guarantor in the Indo-Pacific.