After contributing immensely to Indo-US defence relations in his various avatars in the Pentagon, and hence giving a solid content and meaning to the India-US strategic partnership in the 21st century described by President Barack Obama as defining partnership of the present century, the outgoing US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter selected India among Japan, Israel, Jordan and the UK, as one of his farewell visits to countries with whom he had taken exclusive interest in laying an unshakeable foundation and creating strong bonds of relationship which can only be weakened at the cost of US national strategic interest.
Carter’s farewell visit to India on December 8, 2016, truly reflected the new found warmth and strategic nature of India-US defence relationship which has evolved to such great heights from where it will be difficult to dislodge, even by the most “mad” US Defense Secretary.
Ashton Carter grew from the ranks in Pentagon leadership hence his long and deep experience in dealing with international security issues could genuinely assess the significance of developing strong defence relations with India, which had from the very beginning of the 21st century given hints that India is not only going to be the biggest emerging defence market in the world but also the most important strategic partner of US in the Asia-Pacific region. Carter literally was able to take India out of the lap of Russia and reduce its dependency on them, which made Russia so jealous that it started courting Pakistan just to convey a message to India.
In less than 24 months of assuming the role as chief of the Pentagon, Carter made a record three trips to India and had unprecedented seven meetings with his Indian counterpart Manohar Parrikar. During his various stints in Pentagon, Carter had very rich experience of dealing with India. As Pentagon said in a fact sheet before Carter reached India that he “spearheaded efforts to deepen and broaden” bilateral defence cooperation with India. The fact sheet said that as a result of Carter’s efforts US and India have improved mutual understandings of their respective defence institutions, are exchanging perspectives and coordinating policy approaches in new areas, reinvigorating military to military engagements, launching path-breaking cooperative technology projects and pushing bilateral defence trade to unprecedented levels.
Denne historien er fra December 16-31, 2016-utgaven av SP's MAI.
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Denne historien er fra December 16-31, 2016-utgaven av SP's MAI.
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Tactical Communication System—An update
Tactical Communication System—An update
India signs M777 howitzers
BAE Systems to deliver 145 M777 ultra-light howitzersDeal Going to be worth ₹5,000 croreBAE Systems makes commitment of $200 million in Indian defence suppliers.
DARPA doubles down on tern by funding second test vehicle
Tern, a joint programme between Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the US Navy’s Office of Naval Research (ONR), seeks to greatly increase the effectiveness of forward-deployed small-deck ships such as destroyers and frigates by enabling them to serve as mobile launch and recovery sites for specially designed unmanned air systems (UASs).
Aero India Makes a Mark
With over 1,000 civil aircraft on order, about 400 fighter aircraft and 800 helicopters requirement, besides 5,000 helicopter engines in the next five to 10 years, the aerospace and defence sector is going to boom like never before and the two sectors coming together is but natural.
2016: An Eventful Year For Ministry Of Defence
Speedy modernisation of the armed forces to meet present and emerging challenges, development of requisite capacities and infrastructure for making up critical deficiency of weapons and equipment and creating a robust defence set up in the country through the ‘Make in India’ initiative, were the salient achievements of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) during 2016.
Leading From The Front
The positive results of the solo flight on MiG-21 Type 96 by Air Chief Marshal B.S. Dhanoa, Chief of the Air Staff, IAF, are immense and cannot be quantified or measured.
Make In India: Quo Vadis?
Only with a major overhaul of the bureaucratic establishment and the government machinery as a whole, will the highly mechanised lion representing the spirit of the ‘Make in India’ campaign, begin to roar!
Need For A Full-Time Minister Of Defence
While the appointment of Manohar Parrikar as the Goa Chief Minister has been dictated by political expediency, this move has implications for the Indian armed forces.
INS Viraat Decommissioned
A glorious era of INS Viraat being the flagship of the Indian Navy came to an end on March 6, 2017.
Arun Jaitley: An Articulate Personality Of Multi-Role Versatility
The portfolio of defence is key and highly critical one. So is the finance portfolio. But for someone like Arun Jaitley who is so knowledgeable, so capable and so much in control, holding important positions in the Cabinet is not unmanageable. Prime Minister Narendra Modi once again has turned to him, till he finds a suitable replacement for Manohar Parrikar who has since moved to Goa as Chief Minister.
