India-US Strategic News and Discussion

Ashok Sarraff · Post by **Ashok Sarraff** » 23 Jul 2013 01:18

Just out of curiosity, what's the purpose of the US VP visiting India and the Indian PM planning to visit US given that the current Indian govt. is on the way out and it's basically a lame-duck government?

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 23 Jul 2013 01:21

Sign up and provide a fait accompli to next govt.

Ashok Sarraff · Post by **Ashok Sarraff** » 23 Jul 2013 01:23

Seems so. Something sinister is afoot.

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 23 Jul 2013 02:01

Will they be discussing post 2014 plan for Doctored Singh?
Signal for many rats to jump the sinking ship of secular Congi hell bent on making Congonization of Bharat and Dinia out of India.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 24 Jul 2013 21:07

Another expert chimes in; I think a big sellout is underway as parting shot of UPA2. The EIC was also an investor company. The first flag of the US was same as the EIC flag. I hope the Director of Geoconomics knows that fact!!!

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/a-wor ... /1145666/0
Sanjay Baru

India must actively make it up to global investors, not suspect Western policy intent

Exactly a decade ago, Bimal Jalan famously declared in his farewell interview as governor of the Reserve Bank of India (Financial Express, August 18, 2003): "there is no longer an external constraint to (India's) growth". A decade later, talk of an "external constraint" to growth has resurfaced. To an extent, it is the consequence of the trans-Atlantic financial crisis and the global economic slowdown, but it is also a manifestation of internal problems.

Jalan's 2003 declaration was doubly significant. First, because it ended half-a-century of worrying about an external payments gap. Fed by export pessimism and the natural resistance to foreign capital of a newly independent post-colonial nation, India's plans always assumed there would be an external constraint to growth. Second, this enduring fear of policymakers was reinforced by the economic crisis of 1991, the Asian financial crisis of 1997-98 and the post Pokhran-II economic sanctions.

By 2003, India had overcome all these challenges. As global confidence in the Indian economy's growth prospects grew, so did India's foreign exchange reserves. A modest surplus had been registered on the current account and external debt was at record lows. Jalan was pleased to draw attention to this happy fact as he left Mumbai's Mint Road.

The return to power of the 1991 economic policy "dream team" further boosted global confidence in India and India's confidence in itself. The robustness of India's external economic profile in the mid-2000s encouraged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to go a step further and proclaim a new principle of Indian foreign policy. He told the India Today Conclave in February 2005, "I submit to you for your consideration the idea that the global environment has never been more conducive for India's economic development than it is today. The world wants India to do well... our real challenges are at home."

{As a big time adviser to MMS govt what did Mr Baru think when the economic strength of 2003 was frittered away by the new govt from corruption which boggles the mind and the constat underming of the society? When he did not speak up then he should also keep quiet now!}

This optimism has given way to a new pessimism in policymaking circles and the political class about the global environment. A variety of factors seem to have contributed to this. First, the UPA's success in dealing with the immediate aftermath of the trans-Atlantic financial crisis and the global economic slowdown in the 2008-10 period may have injected an element of hubris among policymakers about India's economic resilience.

Those who imagined the Indian economy to be insulated from global uncertainties assumed they could pursue reckless policies at home without being hurt. It took time for the UPA, especially the ministry of finance, to understand the likely impact of the trans-Atlantic financial crisis and economic slowdown on investor sentiment and the need to take pro-active measures to insulate India.

[I}When you have the alleged Indian Bank robber as the Finance Minster how do you expect them to ken the trans Atlancit crisis?}[/i]

While the commerce ministry was busy celebrating the newly discovered "south-south" trade flows and hoping these would sustain India's exports even after the trans-Atlantic economies had slowed down and started turning protectionist, the ministry of finance began mistreating foreign investors, assuming India's attractions were adequate compensation and that no market was equally attractive.

{Are we sure its wasn't demanding baksheesh for the govt powers?}

Consider the nature of the angry debate in India on foreign direct investment in multibrand retail. Everyone assumed that the moment the government opened the doors to FDI, it would flood in. When the doors were finally opened, not even a trickle flowed in. The policy steps taken in 2009-12 and the debate itself had sapped global confidence in India.

{And FDI in retial was authorised by ordinance and not by Lok Sabha bill based ona dvisers like the one above!}

To make matters worse, the waywardness of economic policymaking and weak management of key infrastructure sectors in 2009-12 induced a virtual investment famine and, worse, capital flight from India.

Adding to these domestic factors were global trends, including the rising threat of protectionism and regionalism in global trade. The defensive response of crisis-ridden trans-Atlantic economies to globalisation and global economic governance contributed to an exaggerated reading at home of the motives of Western policy. India's policymakers, who worry today about the harmful impact of Ben Bernanke's monetary tightening on the rupee and India's balance of payments, worried two years ago about his quantitative easing (QE1 and QE2). We worried when the US dollar was becoming cheaper and we worry when it is becoming dearer.

{Isn't that the right thing to do when you have no control on your economy and have polticial leaders who steal and loot the treasury?}

There is no doubt that the external economic environment in 2013 is less hospitable than it was a decade ago. However, the mistake many in New Delhi made was to confuse difficulty with hostility. When other countries began taking actions to protect their own economic prospects in a difficult global environment, it was assumed these were aimed at specifically hurting India. Maybe some of these measures were aimed at slowing China down. India suffered collateral damage but our response was too weak to prevent it, more so to overcome it.

Trans-Atlantic strategic and economic policy may well be hurting India. But one response to it would be to imagine that it is intended to hurt India and become resentful, another response would be to ensure that it does not, in fact, do so. The latter would call for pro-active measures aimed at winning over investors and securing markets. Strategic autonomy is not secured by merely asserting one's independence, it is secured by creating mutually beneficial inter-dependencies.

It would seem that this is precisely what Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram has been trying to do. In times of crisis, finance ministers double up as foreign ministers, encashing IOUs and enticing investors. How successful they are would depend on how much support they get at home. Chidambaram's attempts to bring in investment from a wide range of capital surplus countries can turn the tide for India, provided appropriate policy support is available on the economic, political and foreign policy fronts.

{PC has zero credibility. Zilch. He needs to step down to ensure confidence}

But taking appropriate measures requires greater self-confidence within the policymaking leadership. If the narrative is that the world is out to hurt India and any gesture to the world is an act of surrender, no government would be able to act. But if the narrative is that in a competitive and challenging global environment, India must take steps to win over investors and secure markets, it would be easier to sell policies aimed at "creating a global environment conducive to India's economic development" — the objective of Indian foreign policy. It is still not too late for the government to change the narrative.

The writer is director for geo-economics and strategy, International Institute for Strategic Studies, and honorary senior fellow, Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi

arun · Post by **arun** » 24 Jul 2013 21:56

65 of our Members of Parliament have shamefully ceded national honour and sovreignity and anointed the US President the new Viceroy of India by begging him to punish Gujarat CM, Mr. Narendra Modi by not giving him a visa

. What is particularly pathetic is to see the Communists, in particular Mr. Sitaram Yechury, take on the role of supplicant at the feet of arch ideological enemy, the capitalists United States of America

. It would seem that for some of our MP’s playing communal politics and wooing the Mohammadden vote bank will not be deterred even at the cost of turning India into a client state of the US

:

65 MPs write to Obama seeking visa ban on Modi

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 24 Jul 2013 22:44

Err, Sitaram Yechurygaru has denied ever signing this. Eight others also have said same thing. Looks like some dirty tricks was used. One does not have to make the list heading "Indian MPs" on a letter head from the two Parliament Houses!

The shameless thing is neither of the House speakers wants to know why/how the letter head was used or abused?

RamaY · Post by **RamaY** » 24 Jul 2013 22:49

ramana wrote:Err, Sitaram Yechurygaru has denied ever signing this. Eight others also have said same thing. Looks like some dirty tricks was used. One does not have to make the list heading "Indian MPs" on a letter head from the two Parliament Houses!

The shameless thing is neither of the House speakers wants to know why/how the letter head was used or abused?

If this document is correct

Neela wrote:http://65traitors.com/

Then it either means the second set of 40 names are pulled from some other document OR these 40 MPs signed with an exit option.

In either case if Yechuri is honest and patriotic then he should file a case against the MP who started this petition for they used forged/misused his signature. Just denying it will not be sufficient.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 24 Jul 2013 22:52

The other guy wants to file a case against SY!

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 24 Jul 2013 23:39

Biden's India visit is an opening shot for his 2016 election campaign.

KrishnaK · Post by **KrishnaK** » 25 Jul 2013 01:03

ramana wrote:Strategic autonomy is not secured by merely asserting one's independence, it is secured by creating mutually beneficial inter-dependencies.

Why is that statement '

' worthy ?

Rudradev · Post by **Rudradev** » 25 Jul 2013 01:22

KrishnaK wrote:
ramana wrote:Strategic autonomy is not secured by merely asserting one's independence, it is secured by creating mutually beneficial inter-dependencies.
Why is that statement ' ' worthy ?

Because no inter-dependency, in the final analysis, ever remains "mutually beneficial" with any degree of stability. It can sound that way on paper, but in practice a disequilibrium invariably comes up. One side always perceives the other as getting the better part of whatever bargain was struck-- and then starts to work behind the scenes to restore an advantage for themselves. See what's happened between US and KSA over the past 25 years, as just one example.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 25 Jul 2013 01:53

And since 1992 dialogs India- US has been seeking to create this 'inter-dependencies' in order to denuke. Refer to CASI dialogs at UPenn. A Director of GeoEconomics should know the background when mere forum dabblers know that!
Hence the shock.

Rony · Post by **Rony** » 25 Jul 2013 02:36

Benis America ! Christian American version of Paki

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqYAyBNk16A

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2nzNm61_Lo

This reminded me of this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KoUtlOntmW0

arun · Post by **arun** » 25 Jul 2013 07:11

arun wrote:65 of our Members of Parliament have shamefully ceded national honour and sovreignity and anointed the US President the new Viceroy of India by begging him to punish Gujarat CM, Mr. Narendra Modi by not giving him a visa . What is particularly pathetic is to see the Communists, in particular Mr. Sitaram Yechury, take on the role of supplicant at the feet of arch ideological enemy, the capitalists United States of America . It would seem that for some of our MP’s playing communal politics and wooing the Mohammadden vote bank will not be deterred even at the cost of turning India into a client state of the US :

65 MPs write to Obama seeking visa ban on Modi

Mr. Sitaram Yechury is going to have to do a lot more to weasel out of this one than make unsubstantiated claims he did not sign..

Mr. Mohammed Adeeb, the architect of the disgraceful the letter that has relegated India to US client status, is not the only one insisting that Mr. Sitaram Yechury signed the letter. CPI politician Mr. Syed Pasha is also confirming that Mr. Sitaram Yechury signed the letter.

Modi US visa letter: I got Yechury to sign the letter, claims CPI leader Syed Pasha

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 27 Jul 2013 08:20

Vice President Joe Biden, in India, suggests his ancestors are Indian

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/201 ... is-ancest/

Vice President Joseph R. Biden suggested Wednesday to a crowd gathered at the Bombay Stock Exchange that his ancestry may in fact include Indian blood.
“It’s an honor to be back in India and to be here in Mumbai,” he said, as the Weekly Standard reported. “Off script for a second here, I was reminded — I was elected to the United States Senate when I was a 29-year-old kid back in 1972, and one of the first letters I received and I regret I never followed up on it. Maybe some genealogist in the audience can follow up for me, but I receive a letter from a gentleman named Biden — Biden, my name — from Mumbai, asserting that we were related.”Mr. Biden then waited for the laughter to die, The Weekly Standard reported.
“Seriously. Suggesting that our mutual, great, great, great, something or other worked for the East India Trading Company back in the 1700s and came to Mumbai,” he said. “I’m going to follow up to find out whether there is a Biden and whether we’re related.”Mr. Biden furthered the perception by saying that he could now return to his home state of Delaware and brag to the “tight Indian-American community” and “my friends who belong to that club” that he visited India, “home to the best cricket team in the world,” The Weekly Standard reported.

JwalaMukhi · Post by **JwalaMukhi** » 27 Jul 2013 18:31

Meantime, appeals to deny visas are pouring in...
http://m.fakingnews.firstpost.com/2013/ ... on/page/1/

On September 11, 2012, while every Indian was re-mourning the ghastly events of 9/11, Mr. Vikas Gupta, was busy driving his new BMW 320d (white color, registration no. DL4 CAH 0911) around the society complex with trumpet horn blaring and Honey Singhs blasphemous songs playing full volume. As Mr. Sushil Shinde, our Home Minister, must have apprised you, the songs of Honey Singh were responsible for majority of rapes in India during 2012-13.

To worsen the pogrom, now Mr. Vikas Gupta wants to go and study Computer Science in US after scoring only 89% in Class-XII and getting JEE rank of only 172, while many ‘Sadbhavana children with higher marks had to settle for the newly launched Delhi University B.Tech. (not AICTE approved!)

In view of the above cited atrocities, we as human beings and the members of the ‘Sadbhavana(meaning ‘Communal Harmony) group housing society, respectfully urge you to direct the State Department to refuse Visa to Mr. Vikas Gupta (Application no. 30127692) once again. Such a refusal will represent a formidable defense of the principles of human rights.

As India and the United States address the challenges facing our societies, the time to (once again) come together on issues of human rights and justice could not have been more opportune. We sincerely urge you to fulfill our request and stand in solidarity with the survivors, human rights activists and all those who value justice and freedom.

Sd/-
(Narender Mohan ‘NaMo Arora)
Secretary, ‘Sadbhavana Group Housing Society
Rohini, Delhi
Enclosure: List of 64 other Society members with names and signatures.

vishvak · Post by **vishvak** » 27 Jul 2013 21:39

Why did Biden mention EIC now? He should be asked if chief conspirator of Godhra train carnage where Hindu pilgrims were burnt alive is in USA or since the chief conspirator a local MLC was from con race therefore secular so it's OK to ignore that barbarian?

Since there are no VISA restrictions on that barbarian Haji Bilal so he could be in USA.

arun · Post by **arun** » 28 Jul 2013 17:58

arun wrote:
arun wrote:65 of our Members of Parliament have shamefully ceded national honour and sovreignity and anointed the US President the new Viceroy of India by begging him to punish Gujarat CM, Mr. Narendra Modi by not giving him a visa . What is particularly pathetic is to see the Communists, in particular Mr. Sitaram Yechury, take on the role of supplicant at the feet of arch ideological enemy, the capitalists United States of America . It would seem that for some of our MP’s playing communal politics and wooing the Mohammadden vote bank will not be deterred even at the cost of turning India into a client state of the US :

65 MPs write to Obama seeking visa ban on Modi
Mr. Sitaram Yechury is going to have to do a lot more to weasel out of this one than make unsubstantiated claims he did not sign..

Mr. Mohammed Adeeb, the architect of the disgraceful the letter that has relegated India to US client status, is not the only one insisting that Mr. Sitaram Yechury signed the letter. CPI politician Mr. Syed Pasha is also confirming that Mr. Sitaram Yechury signed the letter.

Modi US visa letter: I got Yechury to sign the letter, claims CPI leader Syed Pasha

Forensic examination of letter proves that the signatures of 65 of our Members of Parliament who have shamefully ceded national honour and sovereignty and anointed the US President the new Viceroy of India by begging him to punish Gujarat CM, Mr. Narendra Modi by not giving him a visa, is not a forgery. I cannot say I am surprised that these 65 MP’s have mortgaged the Nation’s honour in pursuit of a communal agenda designed to pander to the Mohammadden vote-bank:

Narendra Modi visa row: MPs' letters to Barack Obama 'original and authentic', claims forensic report

Sanku · Post by **Sanku** » 30 Jul 2013 21:42

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/indi ... 484165.cms

Brahma Chellaney
Buried in this report (http://t.co/iXlQTq9h4j) is a revelation—U.S. has linked H1B visa issue to getting Indian nuclear contracts, IPR shift

To a question relating to US H-1B visa, he said "we have to be accommodative of the concerns of the other economy, we can't look at US as though only to what we want should be done and not necessarily accommodate what US wants to be done."

"When I spoke to Secretary Kerry on our concerns about H-1B, he said- he will speak for us in the senate; but they too had some concerns relating to IPR, compulsory licensing, commercialising of 123 agreement has to be solved. We are sensitive to certain specific issues and will try to address it," he added.

svinayak · Post by **svinayak** » 30 Jul 2013 22:19

Indian companies should not expect any changes in the policies on H1 and other things.
There is not much support from the massa industry and lot of things are caliberated based on US china trade.

If they decide to reduce the China trade they will also ramp down India trade links.
This game has been going on for 25 years.

India is played as a strategic pawn in the global trade regime. India has to move up and get out of the traps laid by other countries.
Other countries are using their lobby to change the policies in US to reduce India trade.

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 30 Jul 2013 22:43

XEriously,there's NO coincidence in this latest Indo-Pak Piss..sorry,"Peace" gambit and Biden's visit.

India and Pak to discuss Sir Creek,etc. shortly,says the media.A quick agreement-/sell-out on the same,with no recirprocal guarantee from Pak on halting terror strikes in India,or even bringing to book a single individual responsible for 26/11,will bring a halo of "piss" around Dr.Snake-oil's head ,which the US and the UPA hope will tilt the Muslim vote in India into the UPA's pocket.The US desperately needs the UPA-3 to complete the job of looting and scooting in India and amalgamate the Indian armed forces into the confederation of Yanqui lackeys like Oz,etc.

KrishnaK · Post by **KrishnaK** » 31 Jul 2013 01:06

ramana wrote:And since 1992 dialogs India- US has been seeking to create this 'inter-dependencies' in order to denuke. Refer to CASI dialogs at UPenn. A Director of GeoEconomics should know the background when mere forum dabblers know that!
Hence the shock.

Inter-dependencies cannot be avoided. Let them try to pull of what they can.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 12 Aug 2013 23:27

ramana wrote:Biden's India visit is an opening shot for his 2016 election campaign.

x-post.....

AbhiJ wrote:Rudradevji,

There is a personal Swarth of Biden in whatever he said to GOI.

Biden’s trip to India follows in his established pattern of providing “reassurance” to countries that have concerns about Obama administration policies. It also seems to reflect a division of labor in the administration whereby the vice president focuses on some of the quieter, longer-term issues in U.S. foreign policy as the White House as a whole deals with the immediate crises of the day.

The success of Biden’s “reassurance” missions rests on two factors. The first is that he is seen as a credible representative of the president, able to speak for Obama and make commitments on his behalf. The White House has never hidden the close relationship between the two men; Biden is certainly no isolated figure biding his time in a corner office while Obama and his team govern. In particular, on foreign policy during the second term, the line coming out of the White House is that both men are in alignment and share the same mindset, with the implicit signal being that when Biden now travels and holds meetings with other foreign leaders, whatever message he delivers comes from the president—and whatever commitments or assurances he makes, Obama himself will honor. Biden himself has made this perfectly clear, declaring that “when I speak, no one doubts that I speak for the president.”

The second factor is less clear-cut: Biden’s political future. On a number of domestic and foreign policy issues, there is a growing sense that Obama himself will not be in office to see the fulfillment of his policies—that, in the words of Douglas Brinkley, there will be “too much Obama-era unfinished business” left on the table. Some of Biden’s foreign interlocutors also have gotten the sense that the vice president, in taking over some of the strategic dialogues with key countries, is positioning himself to be Obama’s heir. This, of course, would enhance his credibility in his current talks with other leaders, by offering the promise of continuity beyond 2016, should Biden win the Democratic nomination and then the presidency.
Link

chaanakya · Post by **chaanakya** » 18 Aug 2013 11:54

NSA on mission to salvage Indo-US summit
Shishir Gupta and Pramit Pal Chaudhuri, Hindustan Times
New Delhi , August 16, 2013

India is in a frantic search to flesh out the agenda of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s coming meeting with Barack Obama on September 27th in Washington. National Security Advisor is in the US to work out what diplomats call “deliverables” in the run up to the summit. The subtext: a hope this will inject life into the flagging Indo-US relationship.

The Indian team has taken a number of economic proposals, including proposals to push forward the stalled purchase of Westinghouse nuclear reactors. The idea would be to come up with an actual contract.

New Delhi has already deep-sixed preferential market access issues that had angered large US investors like IBM. Other contentious issues like transfer taxes and drug patents are probably beyond an early resolution.

India will also offer to fast track US arms purchases, notably the Javelin anti-tank missiles, M777 155mm howitzers and M109 self-propelled guns. The Javelin, say US defence sources, has been hanging fire for so long that the original price has almost become unviable. New Delhi may to offer to buy them through the fixed-price foreign military sales route – this is seen as a corruption-free, no middle man way to buy weapons but would mean no offsets for Indian industry.

India has realised a “transactional” Obama administration has wearied of New Delhi’s signing of endless MoUs, holding dozens of bilateral dialogues, but coming up with nothing tangible.

Menon, who is being accompanied by Javed Ashraf of the Prime Minister’s Office, will be in Washington for a week, returning the 22nd.

The Indo-US relationship, once seen as Singh’s greatest foreign policy accomplishment, has gone off the rails since the passage of the civil nuclear liability bill – seen by Washington as a sign New Delhi was not coming through on its side of the Indo-US nuclear deal. “No one in the White House is in charge of the India file,” says a US lobbyist who handles South Asia for his firm.

Striking evidence of how low the relationship has fallen was a letter signed by 170 US congressmen denouncing India for unfair economic policies just before US Vice-President Joe Biden’s recent stopover. This is the first time such a letter has targeted India. Many of these congressmen had been enthusiastic backers of the nuclear deal. “The letter is a sign corporate America has turned its back on India,” said a senior Indian diplomat.

Singh has been asserting personal control of the US policy in the past few months as differences on economics, defence and geopolitics have come to dominate bilateral ties. New Delhi’s recent attempts to distance itself from the US by turning down naval exercises off US waters and putting up shrill opposition to the US in climate change for a and at the World Trade Organisation are seen as increasingly short-sighted as India’s security environment vis a vis Pakistan and China deteriorates. “As far as Obama is concerned,” says the US lobbyist, “India is just a subset of the AfPak file.”

Vipul · Post by **Vipul** » 18 Aug 2013 18:02

M109 SP Guns would be good news for Indian Army which is caught up in the endless farce of trials (competing offers from various agents in South and North Blocks).

SwamyG · Post by **SwamyG** » 19 Aug 2013 09:17

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home ... 901135.cms

Ashok Malik lists 3 major Foreign Policy challenges - Pakistan, China and Indo-US relations. His underlying premise for the foreign policy mess is the lagging economy of India. He focuses on Indo-US relations mostly and essentially points out how India missed the bus with USA. His solution is to get India back on to the growth track. The fundamental point of Ashok is that Economy is an important - if not the biggest factor - in diplomacy and gaining respect and friends.

partha · Post by **partha** » 21 Aug 2013 06:50

http://killerapps.foreignpolicy.com/pos ... surrounded

U.S. Deploying Jets Around Asia to Keep China Surrounded

This is just the start of the Air Force's plan to expand its presence in Asia, according to Carlisle. In addition to the Australian deployments, the Air Force will be sending jets to Changi East air base in Singapore, Korat air base in Thailand, Trivandrum in India, and possibly bases at Kubi Point and Puerto Princesa in the Philippines and airfields in Indonesia and Malaysia.

wut?! When did this happen? I don't remember reading any report in the Indian media.

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 21 Aug 2013 08:51

http://www.thenews.com.pk/article-11456 ... on-Sept-27

Dr Maggo Making Round

WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama will welcome Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to the White House on September 27, for talks on trade, investment and regional security, according to US officials.The administration unveiled the date of the meeting after US National Security Adviser Susan Rice met her Indian counterpart Shivshankar Menon here.Obama visited India in 2010 during his first-term, as part of his administration's strategy of rebalancing US diplomacy towards rising Asia. Singh paid a state visit to Washington in 2009, Obama's first year in the White House.Menon and Rice discussed civil and nuclear cooperation, regional security challenges, trade and Afghanistan, said National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden.The announcement of Singh's visit came as renewed tensions in Kashmir threaten to derail a possible meeting between Singh and Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif at the United Nations next month.The Obama-Singh talks had been previously reported in India, but that the White House had not revealed the exact date.The visit will follow a trip to India by US Vice President Joe Biden in July.

vishvak · Post by **vishvak** » 21 Aug 2013 12:01

There is a lot of confusion here - from merely a side show or subset of Af-Pak file to re-balancing to regional cooperation to what else.

PratikDas · Post by **PratikDas** » 22 Aug 2013 11:13

partha wrote:http://killerapps.foreignpolicy.com/pos ... surrounded

U.S. Deploying Jets Around Asia to Keep China Surrounded

This is just the start of the Air Force's plan to expand its presence in Asia, according to Carlisle. In addition to the Australian deployments, the Air Force will be sending jets to Changi East air base in Singapore, Korat air base in Thailand, Trivandrum in India, and possibly bases at Kubi Point and Puerto Princesa in the Philippines and airfields in Indonesia and Malaysia.
wut?! When did this happen? I don't remember reading any report in the Indian media.

Perhaps India signed the LSA when buying the C130 and C17? From a discussion in 2011 in the JSF Turkey thread:

PratikDas wrote:
Victor wrote: LSA: Logistics support. Ie. you fuel my jet, I fuel your's. You land in my airport, I land in your's.
I start a war, you make sure I get fueled if I choose to land in your country, whether you want to be a participant in my war or not.

And the US isn't exactly shy of starting conflicts in the Middle East.

Cue Syria.

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 22 Aug 2013 20:35

You've got to hand it to our babus ,when even a pronounced pro-US "tilt" by this regime is being scuppered buy babudom. With the situ on the border with Tibet deteriorating by the day and aggro by Pak peaking,the dear Lord save us from the combination of the UPA and the babus.The UPA/Congress is in almost total paralysis,except when it comes to protecting the interests of the "familia".Mama Mia!

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 23 Aug 2013 02:35

Isnt that what the JLN govt also did? they were fully in bed with US allowing U-2 flights from Orissa and Khampa Tibetian rebels being supported to fight the PLA and were shocked that Mao decided to invade in 1962 and acted like innocent lambs?

Cosmo_R · Post by **Cosmo_R** » 23 Aug 2013 02:57

Re USAF in Thiruvananthapuram

""This is just the start of the air force's plan to expand its presence in Asia. In addition to the Australian deployments, the air force will be sending jets to Changi East airbase in Singapore, Korat airbase in Thailand, Trivandrum in India, and possibly bases at Kubi Point and Puerto Princesa in the Philippines and airfields in Indonesia and Malaysia," he was quoted as saying by Foreign Policy magazine and other media outlets.

General Carlisle said "we are not gonna build any more bases in the Pacific to support the US air force's increased presence there." The US air force has nine major bases in different countries.

Is it possible that a. 'Hawk' Carlisle got 'Trivandrum' mixed up with some other base/country or b. That he is talking about USAF exercises with the IAF out of there and it got translated as stationed out of there?

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/indi ... 980850.cms

BTW, how do you surround China with planes stationed in 'Trivandum'? U2s/SR 71s/B2s ? Not likely. Could do it out of many closer places.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 23 Aug 2013 03:13

Maybe its Trincomalee? Does it have an airfield at all?

member_27444 · Post by **member_27444** » 23 Aug 2013 03:42

Boss Arms and The Man
Its the right time before election to make arms deals and take cuts green cards university admisions you name it and unkil can offerr it

Oh by the way Rs is ever sinking so that Dollar purchases commissions will be even better

symontk · Post by **symontk** » 23 Aug 2013 17:54

Check the position of Trivandrum, you will not miss a single Chinese tanker transiting Arabian sea, Bay of Bengal and Indian Ocean with F-15 / F22 / Su 30MKI

US has mid air refuelers too with full fledged bases in Diego Garcia and if need Australia

member_22872 · Post by **member_22872** » 23 Aug 2013 18:46

Why not gift some of those toys to us. Why do they need a base? After all they have been gifting TSP for 6 decades. If they need to counter PRC, let them gift the hardware....that increases the trust in them, unless of course US thinks we don't have good pilots, that opens up a whole lot of other questions.

And if they don't want to gift those toys, their perfidy will be open to view for all anyway. They want to take the advantage of our location, but don't have the trust which they bestowed in a terrorist nation which has been f*** them. Play the same cards TSP has been playing, Americans deserve no better. They use nations and when given an opportunity, we shouldn't be shy doing the same.

vishvak · Post by **vishvak** » 23 Aug 2013 18:53

Not only pukis get to blackmail India after freebies and doles, Indians tend to be tied up even after purchase and FMS routes. How does it matter - other than some yankees making a song and dance about hardware and of course pointing out abnormal Chinese threats.

member_22872 · Post by **member_22872** » 23 Aug 2013 19:07

We should deal with Americans alright, but cheat them, always cheat them. Take their tech, if possible steal it like Chinese, smile and extend the hand of friendship alright, but don't give anything, just take, and double cross them where necessary. Other times remind them that we are two democracies and are two freedom loving, diverse nations.