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India-US strategic ties not linked to arms sales

	April 11, 2005

The United States’ effort to forge a strategic relationship with India is independent of New Delhi buying American military hardware and Washington’s defence ties with Pakistan, senior US officials have said.



In keeping with Washington’s new policy decision to help New Delhi become a “major world power”, the US is offering a wide array of sophisticated hardware, including command and control and early warning systems, even as it engages India’s armed forces in military exercises aimed at fostering joint operations.

Briefing a select group of journalists, the officials emphasised Washington’s policy of “de-hyphenating” its ties with India and Pakistan.

“US policy (for India) is not hostage to what we’re doing with Pakistan,” an official said, referring to the recent decision to clear the long-pending sale of F-16 fighters to Pakistan.

The move was criticised in India and led to speculation about a fresh arms race between India and Pakistan.



The officials, however, insisted that the US had an “elaborate vision” for engaging India to “mobilise shared resources to meet common challenges” on a global stage.



Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice unveiled this vision during her visit to India last month, and it was the culmination of several years of work since the US carried out a major foreign policy review in 2002.

Referring to the US offer of F-16 and F-18 fighters in response to India’s proposal to acquire 126 jets for its Air Force, the officials insisted the future development of bilateral defence cooperation was not in any way linked to arms sales.



“We recognise the importance of the Indian arms market and we want to play in it,” said an official.



“But the strategic ties are much more than about the sale of defence hardware. There is no dependence (for the ties) on transactions for the sale of US hardware.”

The officials pointed out the US was keen on bagging the Indian order for 126 combat jets as it was offering the “best product and at the best prices”, but the strategic relationship was “totally delinked” from arms sales.

They cited several instances that reflected the growing convergence between the US and India in foreign policy and defence cooperation.

These included the operational response to the Dec 26 tsunami in Asia and diplomatic cooperation between the two sides in responding to King Gyanendra’s decision to dismiss the government in Nepal and assume power.

The officials, however, expressed their “frustration” at public perception of the US relations with India and Pakistan, particularly in the wake of the decision to sell the F-16s to Pakistan.



“We’re frustrated at the definition of the relations only in terms of hardware. It is much less about hardware,” said an official. “We have this perception problem that we have to deal with.”



They noted this problem was not affecting “government-to-government relations” as the Indian administration understood the “de-hyphenation” of US relations with India and Pakistan.

“The credit for this largely goes to the government of India which has changed foreign policy (in a way that it has created) a vision that transcends South Asia,” said an official.