Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Inside The Pentagon
January 31, 2008
Pg. 1
Military exercises between the United States and India are growing in sophistication and size due to India’s realization that it must boost capacity if it aims to grow as a strategic power in the Indian Ocean region, Pentagon South Asian Affairs Director Amer Latif tells Inside the Pentagon.
India and the United States’ military-to-military working group is a quickly expanding area in their relationship, Latif said in an interview.
The group’s progress -- and the status of other groups focusing on defense trade, technical cooperation and security procedures -- was discussed during the latest defense talks between the United States and India on Jan. 16 and 17, he said.
The Washington-hosted talks, which dealt with regional issues, maritime cooperation and discussed the progress of defense-related working groups, were led on the Indian side by new defense secretary Vijay Singh, while the U.S. team was headed by Under Secretary of Defence for Policy Eric Edelman, said Latif.
Washington sees India as a stabilizing force in the Indian Ocean region, a label reinforced during 2005’s tsunami when the Asian country worked closely with the United States on relief efforts, Latif said. He said tropical Cyclone Sidr, which recently swept through Bangladesh, also provided an opportunity for similar cooperation.
In a Jan. 23 podcast posted on the Pacific Fleet Web site, U.S. Pacific Fleet Commander Adm. Robert Willard added to that sentiment, saying India has the largest economy and democracy in the Indian Ocean region.
“The Indian Ocean region is strategically important to the entire globe,” said Willard. “Middle East oil, most obviously, but much other manufacturing commerce wealth is contained in and around the Indian Ocean region.”
The United States and India conduct many exercises related to salvage and search-and-rescue operations, among other areas, he said.
The annual Malabar series held in India’s Bay of Bengal in September is an example.
Besides interception and dissimilar air combat exercises, Malabar-2007 also featured surface and anti-submarine warfare, maritime interdiction and visit, board, search and seizure operations to counter piracy and terrorist acts at sea, according to Indian news reports at the time.
In 2002, the exercises comprised basic passing maneuvers among naval vessels, anti-submarine exercises and replenishment-at-sea drills, reports indicate.
“We had two U.S. carriers, an Indian carrier, and Japanese, Singaporean and Australian forces in the Bay of Bengal, all talking together, all working together,” U.S. Pacific Command Commander Navy Adm. Timothy Keating said in a Pentagon statement issued last September. He said more than 20,000 service members from the United States, India, Japan, Singapore and Australia worked together.
“So when I’m talking about the scope, that’s something that we really weren’t thinking about a couple of years before with the Indians. Working with the United States, of course, offers them a lot of benefits,” Latif said.
Latif said another Malabar exercise was held last year in April involving India, Japan and the United States, but in 2008 the exercise will involve only the United States and India.
Latif said the United States and India also hold one to three Joint Combined Exchange Training (JCET) exercises each year in which U.S. special operation forces travel to India to train with their counterparts there on various aspects of counterterrorism. He said this may include intelligence-gathering techniques, conducting counterterrorism operations in urban areas or a jungle warfare environment.
He said similar exchanges between the Indian and American armies also take place. Last September, an exercise called Yudh Abyas, held in the Mizoram near Northeastern India, looked at counterinsurgency techniques.
“So what these exchanges are very good for is for us to be able to develop convergence on the nature of the threat and also develop areas of cooperation, which has been very useful,” he said.
In the future, he added, the Pentagon hopes to foster more information sharing as it relates to JCETs but at the moment U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan are too stretched.
Out of these exercises has come greater interoperability, Latif said.
However, Under Secretary of States for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns, who is set to retire in March, writes in the November/December 2007 issue of Foreign Affairs that military cooperation between the two is impeded because much of the Indian military still uses a considerable amount of Soviet-era equipment.
“Barriers to closer coordination in training and the sharing of military doctrine remain in both governments,” Burns states.
While Latif concedes that similar equipment assists with the compatibility of equipment between allies, he said India’s significant amount of Russian-made equipment “hasn’t prevented us from improving interoperability.”
This was especially the case during the most recent Malabar exercise, he noted. He explained the United States and India tried to establish interoperability for communications, ship-handling procedures and operating naval aviation together.
Enhancing the way the countries’ navies perform alongside each other may be achieved when a logistics support agreement is signed, Latif continued.
“The logistics support agreement . . . allows us to be able to exchange in kind various services and goods to be able to enhance our interoperability,” he said. “For example, if we provide an Indian vessel fuel at a U.S. port or somewhere in the world, at some future point . . . the Indians can provide us fuel in kind to be able to kind of balance out the books.”
It would facilitate cooperation during exercises, mitigating worry about how each will be repaid later, he explained, adding the Indian government’s executive branch is discussing the issue.
Apart from interoperability and joint exercises and exchanges, this month’s defense talks also examined “a very good convergence of views on a number of strategic issues” in the region but Latif declined to elaborate on the details.
Further, the discussions looked at progress made so far.
In the area of defense trade, the United States plans to sell six C-130Js to the Indian air force, he noted.
“Right now, we are hoping to have the Indians sign a letter of agreement, which would then finalize the actual transfer of the aircraft . . . and start the construction,” which are built by Lockheed Martin, he said.
Latif said the expected value of the deal is $1.06 billion.
Moreover, the U.S. government will participate in India’s multi-role combat aircraft competition, Latif added.
The multibillion-dollar contract is reportedly India’s single-largest defense deal ever.
Under the effort, India is buying 126 combat aircraft with the option of purchasing 63 more, Latif told ITP, adding that the United States is offering the F-16 and the F/A-18 for the competition.
Russia, France and Sweden are among the other competitors.
“So it’s going to be a pretty stiff competition,” he said.
The deal for the 126 fighter aircraft is potentially worth $10 billion, Latif said.
Around the same time that Indian and American defense officials met at the Pentagon, Pacific Fleet’s Willard visited India to meet military officials, including India’s naval staff chief and air force air chief marshal. He also made stops in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, according to a Jan. 29 statement from Pacific Fleet public affairs.
Similar issues were touched upon, such as interoperability and maritime strategy.
“Additionally, India and the U.S. shared maritime concerns including trans-national criminal activity, use of the sea for proliferation of weapons of mass effect, piracy and trafficking operations,” says the statement.
India and the United States are slowly moving forward in other areas of their relationship as well.
The U.S.-Indian Civil Nuclear Agreement was signed December 2006 and allows the United States to trade nuclear technology and materials with the country.
According to one State Department official, the International Atomic Energy Association’s nuclear suppliers group has yet to make India a member.
Moreover, the official told ITP, Congress must vote again on the agreement.
-- Fawzia Sheikh
January 31, 2008
Pg. 1
Military exercises between the United States and India are growing in sophistication and size due to India’s realization that it must boost capacity if it aims to grow as a strategic power in the Indian Ocean region, Pentagon South Asian Affairs Director Amer Latif tells Inside the Pentagon.
India and the United States’ military-to-military working group is a quickly expanding area in their relationship, Latif said in an interview.
The group’s progress -- and the status of other groups focusing on defense trade, technical cooperation and security procedures -- was discussed during the latest defense talks between the United States and India on Jan. 16 and 17, he said.
The Washington-hosted talks, which dealt with regional issues, maritime cooperation and discussed the progress of defense-related working groups, were led on the Indian side by new defense secretary Vijay Singh, while the U.S. team was headed by Under Secretary of Defence for Policy Eric Edelman, said Latif.
Washington sees India as a stabilizing force in the Indian Ocean region, a label reinforced during 2005’s tsunami when the Asian country worked closely with the United States on relief efforts, Latif said. He said tropical Cyclone Sidr, which recently swept through Bangladesh, also provided an opportunity for similar cooperation.
In a Jan. 23 podcast posted on the Pacific Fleet Web site, U.S. Pacific Fleet Commander Adm. Robert Willard added to that sentiment, saying India has the largest economy and democracy in the Indian Ocean region.
“The Indian Ocean region is strategically important to the entire globe,” said Willard. “Middle East oil, most obviously, but much other manufacturing commerce wealth is contained in and around the Indian Ocean region.”
The United States and India conduct many exercises related to salvage and search-and-rescue operations, among other areas, he said.
The annual Malabar series held in India’s Bay of Bengal in September is an example.
Besides interception and dissimilar air combat exercises, Malabar-2007 also featured surface and anti-submarine warfare, maritime interdiction and visit, board, search and seizure operations to counter piracy and terrorist acts at sea, according to Indian news reports at the time.
In 2002, the exercises comprised basic passing maneuvers among naval vessels, anti-submarine exercises and replenishment-at-sea drills, reports indicate.
“We had two U.S. carriers, an Indian carrier, and Japanese, Singaporean and Australian forces in the Bay of Bengal, all talking together, all working together,” U.S. Pacific Command Commander Navy Adm. Timothy Keating said in a Pentagon statement issued last September. He said more than 20,000 service members from the United States, India, Japan, Singapore and Australia worked together.
“So when I’m talking about the scope, that’s something that we really weren’t thinking about a couple of years before with the Indians. Working with the United States, of course, offers them a lot of benefits,” Latif said.
Latif said another Malabar exercise was held last year in April involving India, Japan and the United States, but in 2008 the exercise will involve only the United States and India.
Latif said the United States and India also hold one to three Joint Combined Exchange Training (JCET) exercises each year in which U.S. special operation forces travel to India to train with their counterparts there on various aspects of counterterrorism. He said this may include intelligence-gathering techniques, conducting counterterrorism operations in urban areas or a jungle warfare environment.
He said similar exchanges between the Indian and American armies also take place. Last September, an exercise called Yudh Abyas, held in the Mizoram near Northeastern India, looked at counterinsurgency techniques.
“So what these exchanges are very good for is for us to be able to develop convergence on the nature of the threat and also develop areas of cooperation, which has been very useful,” he said.
In the future, he added, the Pentagon hopes to foster more information sharing as it relates to JCETs but at the moment U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan are too stretched.
Out of these exercises has come greater interoperability, Latif said.
However, Under Secretary of States for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns, who is set to retire in March, writes in the November/December 2007 issue of Foreign Affairs that military cooperation between the two is impeded because much of the Indian military still uses a considerable amount of Soviet-era equipment.
“Barriers to closer coordination in training and the sharing of military doctrine remain in both governments,” Burns states.
While Latif concedes that similar equipment assists with the compatibility of equipment between allies, he said India’s significant amount of Russian-made equipment “hasn’t prevented us from improving interoperability.”
This was especially the case during the most recent Malabar exercise, he noted. He explained the United States and India tried to establish interoperability for communications, ship-handling procedures and operating naval aviation together.
Enhancing the way the countries’ navies perform alongside each other may be achieved when a logistics support agreement is signed, Latif continued.
“The logistics support agreement . . . allows us to be able to exchange in kind various services and goods to be able to enhance our interoperability,” he said. “For example, if we provide an Indian vessel fuel at a U.S. port or somewhere in the world, at some future point . . . the Indians can provide us fuel in kind to be able to kind of balance out the books.”
It would facilitate cooperation during exercises, mitigating worry about how each will be repaid later, he explained, adding the Indian government’s executive branch is discussing the issue.
Apart from interoperability and joint exercises and exchanges, this month’s defense talks also examined “a very good convergence of views on a number of strategic issues” in the region but Latif declined to elaborate on the details.
Further, the discussions looked at progress made so far.
In the area of defense trade, the United States plans to sell six C-130Js to the Indian air force, he noted.
“Right now, we are hoping to have the Indians sign a letter of agreement, which would then finalize the actual transfer of the aircraft . . . and start the construction,” which are built by Lockheed Martin, he said.
Latif said the expected value of the deal is $1.06 billion.
Moreover, the U.S. government will participate in India’s multi-role combat aircraft competition, Latif added.
The multibillion-dollar contract is reportedly India’s single-largest defense deal ever.
Under the effort, India is buying 126 combat aircraft with the option of purchasing 63 more, Latif told ITP, adding that the United States is offering the F-16 and the F/A-18 for the competition.
Russia, France and Sweden are among the other competitors.
“So it’s going to be a pretty stiff competition,” he said.
The deal for the 126 fighter aircraft is potentially worth $10 billion, Latif said.
Around the same time that Indian and American defense officials met at the Pentagon, Pacific Fleet’s Willard visited India to meet military officials, including India’s naval staff chief and air force air chief marshal. He also made stops in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, according to a Jan. 29 statement from Pacific Fleet public affairs.
Similar issues were touched upon, such as interoperability and maritime strategy.
“Additionally, India and the U.S. shared maritime concerns including trans-national criminal activity, use of the sea for proliferation of weapons of mass effect, piracy and trafficking operations,” says the statement.
India and the United States are slowly moving forward in other areas of their relationship as well.
The U.S.-Indian Civil Nuclear Agreement was signed December 2006 and allows the United States to trade nuclear technology and materials with the country.
According to one State Department official, the International Atomic Energy Association’s nuclear suppliers group has yet to make India a member.
Moreover, the official told ITP, Congress must vote again on the agreement.
-- Fawzia Sheikh