The most hilarious reasoning for signing the logistics agreement is that we will be able to use US bases worldwide! When did we become globocop of the high seas,or globocop's depiuty? Or are we planning to be part of Uncle Sam's maritime "posse" bringing up the rear? First of all,there is b*gger all eqpt. wise that is of US origin in IN warships or subs. We have only one vessel,the ex-Trenton of US origin and its legacy helos. Most of the firang eqpt.like weaponry and sensors aboard IN assets are of Soviet/Russian origin. Secondly the great "reach" of the IN.We've just sent the very first missile corvette to be based in the A&N islands,some multi-ocean blue water ambitions. So are we going to use US facilities in Guam,Pearl Harbour,San Diego ...to do what? Hunt pirates? The IOR is our main sphere of ops. Will the US even allow a single IN bumboat to enter Diego Garcia?!
Vietnam and the ICS is the most likely nation and waterbody where the IN will operate from outside the IOR .We are training the Viets in Kilo class sub ops.Vietnames warships and subs are almost all of Russian origin The Gulf is the second region.Here,the proposed dev of Charbahar with Iran is of vital importance to counter Pak's handing over of Gwadar to China.
What will be India's predicament of a gung-ho US pres like Trump for instance dumps (as promised) the N-deal with Iran and takes a pot shot at it using Indian base facilities? What if there is a US/NATO spat with Russia in the Baltic/Black Sea/IOR? There was an incident just yesterday where Russian aircraft allegedly overflew/flew too close to a US warship.US warships and subs operating out of Indian bases/ports engaged in hostile actions against the RuN would be simply unacceptable to Russia as well as India.
The Russian fear of US warships stealing Ru tech for instance Akula tech when their warships also use/have base facilities at the very same bases where the sub will visit/operate from,is a very real one.
Basing US hardware,etc. on Indian soil also means that some US personnel based there on a permanent basis! To imagine that some of these personnel will not be used to gather intel is being naïve. The agreement also covers repair work on US warships,something that was not possible on DG. In effect India has handed over the sub-continent to the US by stealth .US warships,subs and aircraft will now be able to "visit " ,with the frequency of visits increasing by the month."R&R" means thousands of USN personnel from one of its CBGs creating havoc on land going bar-hunting and whore-hunting ,why they love Thailand so much as an "R&R" stop. On can imagine the MPs being kept busy in Indian ports!
Most importantly,if we examine the IN's cutting edge tech that it possesses,almost everything is of Russian origin.The Vik-A carrier is ex-Russian as well as the MIGs and Kamovs aboard it.The Chakra is Russian,our N-reactor tech for the ATV seriues is heavily in debt to Russia.Brahmos would be impossible without Russia.Our Kilos,the backbone of the IN's sub fleet are Russian.Most sensors and other weaponry like missiles,etc. are also Russian .P*ssing off Russia by allowing the USN a naval foothold in the subcontinent which even they were denied despite their massive military,diplomatic help in 71 and beyond,is bound to happen.As the US starts widening the door further it will have a detrimental cascading effect upon the Indian military.
The old saying "Fools step in where angels fear to tread" is very apt in this case. I'm afraid that we are starting to resemble another period in history,Iran,when it was under the Shah,a willing "policeman" of the Persian Gulf for Uncle Sam.Look what happened to him.The US never even allowed him political refuge when he fled Khomeini's revolution! Let's just wait for the next Paki terror attack ,which will be rewarded yet again with more US largesse for that entity of terror.Mr.Modi and co. will then perhaps realise the consequences, being made of by sad to say a mere lame-duck US president and administration.
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016 ... baltic-sea
Russian attack jets buzz US warship in riskiest encounter for years
White House says Baltic Sea incident ‘inconsistent with professional norms of militaries operating in proximity to each other in international waters’
Footage shot on board the vessel shows the Russian Su-24 planes making repeated passes.
Julian Borger in New York
Wednesday 13 April 2016
A Russian jet came within 30ft of a US destroyer conducting exercises in the Baltic Sea in what the US navy described as a “simulated attack” – one of the closest and riskiest encounters between the two countries’ armed forces in recent years.
The US navy released photos and videos showing Russian SU-24 fighter jets flying low over the sea and “buzzing” the USS Donald Cook – a destroyer of the Arleigh Burke class – which carries guided missiles and which had just made a call at the Polish port of Gdynia.
According to the US European Command (Eucom) in Stuttgart, there were a number of such close encounters on Monday and Tuesday, involving both Russian fighter jets and helicopters, while the Donald Cook was in international waters in the Baltic Sea, off the coast of Poland. Those waters are also close to the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad.
Lt Col David Westover, a Eucom spokesman, said that in the closest pass, on Monday, a Russian SU-24 came within 30ft (9 metres) of the Donald Cook, at an altitude of 100ft, as the US navy was practising helicopter landings on the ship’s deck, and an allied helicopter was on the deck refuelling. The drills were stopped because of the danger presented by the Russian overflights, he said. Other reports said that helicopter involved in the aborted exercise had been Polish.
The White House press secretary, Josh Earnest, said the behaviour was “entirely inconsistent with the professional norms of militaries operating in proximity to each other in international waters and international airspace”.
There was no direct response from Moscow, but the pro-government Sputnik news service described the flypast as a “minor incident” which had got the Pentagon “up in arms”.
The incident appears to be the closest so far of a series of military encounters between Russian and US forces since tensions intensified dramatically with Moscow’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 and its subsequent covert military intervention on the side of separatists in eastern Ukraine. Military experts have warned that such risky behaviour could easily lead to a miscalculation by a pilot or sailor leading to an accident and repercussions that spiral out of control.
The European Leadership Network (ELN), a defence thinktank, issued a report in March calling for Moscow and Washington to reach an agreement setting rules for military encounters to lessen the risk of uncontrolled escalation.
Responding to the latest incident, the ELN director, Ian Kearns, said: “These incidents are happening too often. They are dangerous and irresponsible. Any one of them could escalate into something more dangerous still.”
He said the Nato Russia Council, a cooperative body set up after the cold war but which has recently fallen into abeyance, should make management of such incidents a priority at its next session on 20 April.
Eucom’s account of Monday’s incident said the “Donald Cook was conducting deck landing drills with an allied military helicopter when two Russian SU-24 jets made numerous, close-range and low altitude passes at approximately 3pm local time. One of the passes, which occurred while the allied helicopter was refuelling on the deck of Donald Cook, was deemed unsafe by the ship’s commanding officer. As a safety precaution, flight operations were suspended until the SU-24s departed the area.” Other reports said the helicopter was Polish.
On Tuesday, according to Eucom, a Russian KA-27 Helix helicopter flew seven low altitude rings around the US warship, followed 40 minutes later by two SU-24s which “made numerous close-range and low altitude passes, 11 in total”.
“The Russian aircraft flew in a simulated attack profile and failed to respond to repeated safety advisories in both English and Russian,” the Eucom statement said. “We have deep concerns about the unsafe and unprofessional Russian flight manoeuvres. These actions have the potential to unnecessarily escalate tensions between countries, and could result in a miscalculation or accident
that could cause serious injury or death.”