M A I N   N E W S

Arms to Pak may affect talks, says Pranab
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 17
Even as India and the USA move towards increasing their military-to-military contacts and sale of defence equipment, Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee today sent out a cautious signal to Washington that the supply of weapons including F-16 fighter planes, by the USA to Pakistan could impact the composite dialogue between New Delhi and Islamabad.

Talking to newspersons on the sidelines of a function to flag off a Nehru Mountaineering expedition to 8,012 m peak, Mt Shisha Pangma in central Tibet, here the minister said at this juncture when a composite dialogue was on, historic bus journey between Muzzaffarabad and Srinagar about to begin and voluntary reduction of troops carried out by India in Jammu and Kashmir, the supply of lethal arms to Pakistan could have an impact on the dialogue.

“We have expressed our concern to the US Secretary of State in this regard during the Indo-US talks yesterday,” he said. He also attempted to dispel confusion over the purchase of F-16 fighter aircraft by India and pointed out that the acquisition of these multi-role fighters had figured in the talks, but the proposal was at an early stage. The US side is yet to respond to our request for information on sales, he said.

On whether the proposal to acquire six Scorpene Hunter-Killer class submarines would be cleared by the Cabinet Committee on Security, the Defence Minister said as and when a decision was taken, it would be made known.

India may buy defence hardware from US
Rajeev Sharma
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 17
Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran today hinted that India was heading towards purchasing defence hardware from the USA.

“There is no doubt that the USA is the manufacturer of world’s most modern and sophisticated weapons. The problem was the predictability, reliability aspect. (Secretary of State Condoleezza) Rice has assured us that the USA wants to be a reliable partner,” he said here while inaugurating the Observer Research Foundation-CSIS dialogue.

Speaking on “India-US relations: An Overview”, Mr Saran explained the prospects of much stronger defence cooperation between the two countries. He said India had the capability to purchase 120 multipurpose aircraft. He asked how many countries had that kind of capacity, hinting at the huge defence market.

The Foreign Secretary described Ms Rice’s New Delhi visit as an unprecedented, landmark visit at the most opportune time and added that he was now looking forward to the visit of US President George Bush, who has personally committed to take India-US relations to a new level.

Mr Saran described the Indo-US relations as a strategic partnership of two great, vibrant democracies which have to manage multi-ethnic communities.

He said he was very optimistic about further strengthening of the relationship, which encompasses such a wide area that touches every aspect of life.

Mr Saran said India and the USA, despite some areas of divergence, can work together in many areas like environment, climate change, health issues, HIV and energy.

He said from the security angle also, India and the USA could work together as was shown in the aftermath of the December tsunami disaster. “When major countries like Germany, Japan talked in the present tense, we were talking in the past tense. The USA was surprised at the capability of the Indian Navy and Air Force to deal with disasters of such a scale,” he said.

Mr Saran said India was looking for a strategic space as an autonomous, economic power in the world. This objective did not clash with US foreign policy objectives. He said Ms Rice’s talks with Indian leaders and officials also centred on the cooperation in the energy and defence sectors.