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Indo-US panel agrees on N-exigency plans on Pak - The Times of India
WASHINGTON: A blue ribbon panel tasked to identify "shared national interests" between the US and India has suggested among other steps, secretly planning together for exigencies in Pakistan such as its collapse and loss of control over its nuclear weapons.
The joint study group led by experts from both countries has also called for regular mutual briefings and intensifying consultations between US and India on China "given worrisome and heavy-handed Chinese actions since 2007." In a 54-page report released in Washington on Monday, experts reiterate the mantra that US express strong support for India's rise as a crucial component of Asian security and stability, adding that India should recognize American salience in the Asia-Pacific region.
On Afghanistan, the panel says that India, with US support, must continue to intensify links with the Afghanistan in the economic, diplomatic, and security domains. The US and India must determine if large-scale Indian training of Afghanistan forces would be beneficial, it adds.
Co-sponsored by the Council on Foreign Relations and Aspen Institute India, the panel, heading by former envoys Robert Blackwill and Naresh Chandra, wants the US and India to endorse a residual US military presence over the long term in Afghanistan beyond 2014, if such a presence is acceptable to the government of Afghanistan.
But in reassuring declarations that its recommendation are not directed against Pakistan or China or intended to isolate them, the panel calls for continued engagement with both countries. The US and India, it says, should jointly and individually enlist China's cooperation on matters of global and regional concern, adding "Neither India nor the US desire confrontation with China, or to forge a coalition for China's containment."
The panel suggests India must continue its negotiations with Pakistan on outstanding issues, including Kashmir. India must initiate bilateral discussions with Pakistan on Afghanistan as well as trilateral discussions with Afghanistan.
But it is the recommendation on Pakistan, a country that is widely recognized now as being on the verge of collapse, that the panel makes the most eye-popping recommendation.
It suggests holding "classified exchanges on multiple Pakistan contingencies, including the collapse of the Pakistan state and the specter of the Pakistan military losing control of its nuclear arsenal."
The study group also wants that US "heavily condition all military aid to Pakistan on sustained concrete antiterrorist measures by the Pakistan military against groups targeting India and the United States, including in Afghanistan."
WASHINGTON: A blue ribbon panel tasked to identify "shared national interests" between the US and India has suggested among other steps, secretly planning together for exigencies in Pakistan such as its collapse and loss of control over its nuclear weapons.
The joint study group led by experts from both countries has also called for regular mutual briefings and intensifying consultations between US and India on China "given worrisome and heavy-handed Chinese actions since 2007." In a 54-page report released in Washington on Monday, experts reiterate the mantra that US express strong support for India's rise as a crucial component of Asian security and stability, adding that India should recognize American salience in the Asia-Pacific region.
On Afghanistan, the panel says that India, with US support, must continue to intensify links with the Afghanistan in the economic, diplomatic, and security domains. The US and India must determine if large-scale Indian training of Afghanistan forces would be beneficial, it adds.
Co-sponsored by the Council on Foreign Relations and Aspen Institute India, the panel, heading by former envoys Robert Blackwill and Naresh Chandra, wants the US and India to endorse a residual US military presence over the long term in Afghanistan beyond 2014, if such a presence is acceptable to the government of Afghanistan.
But in reassuring declarations that its recommendation are not directed against Pakistan or China or intended to isolate them, the panel calls for continued engagement with both countries. The US and India, it says, should jointly and individually enlist China's cooperation on matters of global and regional concern, adding "Neither India nor the US desire confrontation with China, or to forge a coalition for China's containment."
The panel suggests India must continue its negotiations with Pakistan on outstanding issues, including Kashmir. India must initiate bilateral discussions with Pakistan on Afghanistan as well as trilateral discussions with Afghanistan.
But it is the recommendation on Pakistan, a country that is widely recognized now as being on the verge of collapse, that the panel makes the most eye-popping recommendation.
It suggests holding "classified exchanges on multiple Pakistan contingencies, including the collapse of the Pakistan state and the specter of the Pakistan military losing control of its nuclear arsenal."
The study group also wants that US "heavily condition all military aid to Pakistan on sustained concrete antiterrorist measures by the Pakistan military against groups targeting India and the United States, including in Afghanistan."
