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US honeymoon with Pakistan ‘temporary’ |
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A leading US think tank delegation visiting India says Washington will not sacrifice its growing ties with New Delhi for the sake of its “temporary relationship” with Islamabad. The RAND Corporation, a non-profit institution geared to help improve policy and decision-making through research and analysis, has been conducting contracted studies for the Pentagon for decades.
Jerrold Green, RAND’s Director for its Middle East policy and international programmes, told the media: “We have no illusions about Pakistan. Our interest with Pakistan is the direct outgrowth of the events in Afghanistan and New York on September 11... We know exactly why we are there. (It) is in our vital national interest... We need to operate in Afghanistan.
India not be sacrificed for US temporary relationship with Pakistan
The weeklong visit to India by a four-member delegation headed by RAND president and chief executive officer James Thomson, the first such exercise taken by the think tank, was seen as a reflection of the growing defence and strategic ties between the US and India.
RAND is among those advocating close defence and security cooperation between Washington and New Delhi.
In “Transition 2001”, a RAND-sponsored paper presented to US President George W. Bush, co-authors Frank Carlucci, Robert Hunter, and Zalmay Khalilzad, said: “If current trends continue, India will become the world’s fourth largest economy by 2015 and will emerge as a great power. India warrants an increased level of US engagement.
“By contrast, Pakistan is in the midst of deep social crisis and is pursuing policies counter to US interests. You should increase pressure on Islamabad to stop support for the Taliban in Afghanistan, to cooperate in the fight against terrorism, to show restraint in Kashmir, and to focus on solving its own internal problems.”
The delegation, which included Natalie Crawford, vice president and director, RAND Project Air Force, and Jeff Isaacson, vice president and director of the organisation’s National Security Research Division, met senior Indian ministers, officials and defence and security experts.
Thomson acknowledged his organisation had not given enough importance to India and South Asia in the past largely due to the Cold War. But he said that was going to change because of New Delhi’s growing strategic importance to Washington. He noted that there was a significant improvement in relations in the last two years, particularly since the September 11 terrorist attacks in the US
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