Asia Times News June 24, 2004
India's top guns head for the US
NEW DELHI - A 200-strong contingent of personnel of the Indian Air Force (IAF) is at the moment headed for Alaska, United States, in what is going to be the first-ever joint Indo-US air exercise on American soil. Amid all the backslapping and camaraderie that has become a feature of Indo-US military exercises that are a regular occurrence in India now, there is a much broader game plan. While the IAF explores uncharted areas, the occasion is also a milestone in longer-term US intentions to reach out to potential military allies outside Europe and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and in the current context, possible deployment of troops to Iraq.
The facts and firsts
Top gun Indian pilots, young flight lieutenants, airmen and assorted crew took off for their 19,750 kilometer journey to Alaska from air force base Ambala, in the state of Haryana on Tuesday morning in six Jaguar strike aircraft, two IL-76s transport aircraft and two IL-78 tankers. They are to participate in the annual multinational air exercises code-named Operation Cooperative Cope Thunder that take place in Alaska with allies such as the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, Canada and South Korea. This is the first time that India has been invited to a US air exercise, making it the first-ever foray of IAF planes outside Indian territory for such an event.
It is also the farthest the IAF has ever flown; and the first time the giant IL-78s tankers are being exposed in the West. The air convoy will make the passage in stages, stopping in Qatar, Egypt, Italy, and Portugal, before making the trans-Atlantic flight with a layover in the Azores Islands. The group will enter Canada on July 2 and reach Alaska on July 7 for exercises that are slated to begin on July 15.
In a statement an IAF spokesperson said, "The IAF has never been on such a journey and we just want to be careful getting our planes and equipment across safely. This is a big honor and a big debut for us." The Alaska trip comes in the wake of high praise that has been showered by the US Air Force (USAF) on the IAF, which participated in joint exercises in Gwalior this February. The IAF threw open its top-of-the-line fighter planes, including the Sukhois and Mirages, at the USAF in Gwalior and Jaguars that are of relatively older vintage.
While the Indian government has sought to downplay any larger message in the Alaska exercise, observers here see the first-ever invitation by the USAF as an attempt to expand its sphere of influence, given the current imbroglio over Iraq. While there is no gainsaying the fact that the exchanges will go a long way in informing India about latest technologies, as well as a first-hand knowledge of F-16 fighter planes that form the main arsenal of Pakistan, analysts also warn that India must guard against a new American strategy to take NATO beyond the confines of Europe, where ties between Washington and some of its allies are not on the best of terms over Iraq.
One comment reads: "Expanding NATO with new members outside Europe, while diluting its 'North Atlantic' charter, is evidently aimed at enhancing American influence at the expense of its European allies. As it is, the US has succeeded in getting NATO into Afghanistan, the first time the 55-[member] organization has taken up duties outside Europe. Next step: Iraq. This is where India could come in handy. Major NATO countries of Europe are opposed to its deployment in Iraq, but Japan has already chipped in with troops. An expanded NATO could deploy more easily in Iraq. There is also talk of bringing in several central Asian and Arab countries into the NATO fold."
The situation in Iraq is in flux with an interim Iraqi government being formed under United Nations auspices, though there is still a way to go before any figment of normalcy returns in the country. That India is under continued pressure from the US to supply troops is borne out by the fact that Foreign Minister Natwar Singh, immediately after a meeting with US Secretary of State Collin Powell earlier this month, said that India would re-look and discuss the issue in the changed circumstance of a UN resolution. Singh's statement caused a furor among political parties in India. The very next day he issued another statement that a re-think in no way changes India's current stance.
Another comment says, "For India, the larger issues are tricky. It does not want to play itself into blocs. At the same time, engagement with alliances as far apart as NATO and ASEAN [Association of Southeast Asian Nations] is inviting, and flattering to its geostrategic ambitions. In the past, New Delhi has been scathing about NATO's expanding role outside Europe. It wasn't too long back that it accused the organization of an increasing tendency to "usurp the power and function of the UN Security Council", and said its propensity to extend its areas of operation "is a source of concern to all countries, big and small".
Indeed, officials here say that India is more than likely to bide its time and study the situation till the November elections are over in the US and any decision concerning the two countries will strictly remain on pragmatic grounds of cost and benefit. However, observers also aver that given the superpower status of the US, it would be useful for India to weigh its decisions properly, given that the US is seeking to draw India into a wider bloc of nations.
At the same time, India will have to be careful not to get caught in the tricky "good versus evil" definition that is driving the army of neo-conservatives that crowd President George W Bush's inner circle. Geostrategic advantages apart, the political cost of failure on this front could be immense. As the thinking here is, will a Madrid-style terror attack, with its subsequent political fallout, happen in the US? Till then, India will be grabbing any opportunity that comes its way, such as military exercises, where no body bags are involved.
LINK: http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/FF24Df04.html
India's top guns head for the US
NEW DELHI - A 200-strong contingent of personnel of the Indian Air Force (IAF) is at the moment headed for Alaska, United States, in what is going to be the first-ever joint Indo-US air exercise on American soil. Amid all the backslapping and camaraderie that has become a feature of Indo-US military exercises that are a regular occurrence in India now, there is a much broader game plan. While the IAF explores uncharted areas, the occasion is also a milestone in longer-term US intentions to reach out to potential military allies outside Europe and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and in the current context, possible deployment of troops to Iraq.
The facts and firsts
Top gun Indian pilots, young flight lieutenants, airmen and assorted crew took off for their 19,750 kilometer journey to Alaska from air force base Ambala, in the state of Haryana on Tuesday morning in six Jaguar strike aircraft, two IL-76s transport aircraft and two IL-78 tankers. They are to participate in the annual multinational air exercises code-named Operation Cooperative Cope Thunder that take place in Alaska with allies such as the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, Canada and South Korea. This is the first time that India has been invited to a US air exercise, making it the first-ever foray of IAF planes outside Indian territory for such an event.
It is also the farthest the IAF has ever flown; and the first time the giant IL-78s tankers are being exposed in the West. The air convoy will make the passage in stages, stopping in Qatar, Egypt, Italy, and Portugal, before making the trans-Atlantic flight with a layover in the Azores Islands. The group will enter Canada on July 2 and reach Alaska on July 7 for exercises that are slated to begin on July 15.
In a statement an IAF spokesperson said, "The IAF has never been on such a journey and we just want to be careful getting our planes and equipment across safely. This is a big honor and a big debut for us." The Alaska trip comes in the wake of high praise that has been showered by the US Air Force (USAF) on the IAF, which participated in joint exercises in Gwalior this February. The IAF threw open its top-of-the-line fighter planes, including the Sukhois and Mirages, at the USAF in Gwalior and Jaguars that are of relatively older vintage.
While the Indian government has sought to downplay any larger message in the Alaska exercise, observers here see the first-ever invitation by the USAF as an attempt to expand its sphere of influence, given the current imbroglio over Iraq. While there is no gainsaying the fact that the exchanges will go a long way in informing India about latest technologies, as well as a first-hand knowledge of F-16 fighter planes that form the main arsenal of Pakistan, analysts also warn that India must guard against a new American strategy to take NATO beyond the confines of Europe, where ties between Washington and some of its allies are not on the best of terms over Iraq.
One comment reads: "Expanding NATO with new members outside Europe, while diluting its 'North Atlantic' charter, is evidently aimed at enhancing American influence at the expense of its European allies. As it is, the US has succeeded in getting NATO into Afghanistan, the first time the 55-[member] organization has taken up duties outside Europe. Next step: Iraq. This is where India could come in handy. Major NATO countries of Europe are opposed to its deployment in Iraq, but Japan has already chipped in with troops. An expanded NATO could deploy more easily in Iraq. There is also talk of bringing in several central Asian and Arab countries into the NATO fold."
The situation in Iraq is in flux with an interim Iraqi government being formed under United Nations auspices, though there is still a way to go before any figment of normalcy returns in the country. That India is under continued pressure from the US to supply troops is borne out by the fact that Foreign Minister Natwar Singh, immediately after a meeting with US Secretary of State Collin Powell earlier this month, said that India would re-look and discuss the issue in the changed circumstance of a UN resolution. Singh's statement caused a furor among political parties in India. The very next day he issued another statement that a re-think in no way changes India's current stance.
Another comment says, "For India, the larger issues are tricky. It does not want to play itself into blocs. At the same time, engagement with alliances as far apart as NATO and ASEAN [Association of Southeast Asian Nations] is inviting, and flattering to its geostrategic ambitions. In the past, New Delhi has been scathing about NATO's expanding role outside Europe. It wasn't too long back that it accused the organization of an increasing tendency to "usurp the power and function of the UN Security Council", and said its propensity to extend its areas of operation "is a source of concern to all countries, big and small".
Indeed, officials here say that India is more than likely to bide its time and study the situation till the November elections are over in the US and any decision concerning the two countries will strictly remain on pragmatic grounds of cost and benefit. However, observers also aver that given the superpower status of the US, it would be useful for India to weigh its decisions properly, given that the US is seeking to draw India into a wider bloc of nations.
At the same time, India will have to be careful not to get caught in the tricky "good versus evil" definition that is driving the army of neo-conservatives that crowd President George W Bush's inner circle. Geostrategic advantages apart, the political cost of failure on this front could be immense. As the thinking here is, will a Madrid-style terror attack, with its subsequent political fallout, happen in the US? Till then, India will be grabbing any opportunity that comes its way, such as military exercises, where no body bags are involved.
LINK: http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/FF24Df04.html
