Military Experts On India

[Mercenary]

I've been asked to do some research for a friend who's writing a paper and giving a presentation at the University of Washington on India's nuclear program, the recent U.S. nuclear deal and its implications.

There are five questions that I specifically want answers to, but please only if you can provide vaild proof, i.e., reputable newspapers, industry magazines, website links, book authors, etc.

1. What are the U.S. strategic interests besides arms sales to India?

2. Is the U.S. trying to balance China's power in the region by developing India?

3. Does the U.S. hope to use India as a base of operations?

4. How does India's Military strength compare to China's?

5. What are the U.S. fears in that region concerning China?

Please be specific and as detailed as possible.

Thank you for your time. I may post this elsewhere, not sure where exactly is best.

Mercenary

 

[Schumacher]

1. What are the U.S. strategic interests besides arms sales to India?
-- Actually, US's main strategic interest in India is to use it to counter China. Arms sales, as lucrative as it is, is just one of the means to that strategic goal.
Don't tell me U actually believed the reason for US's interest there is due to the fact that India is democratic ? Which btw is something all Indians can be very proud of.

2. Is the U.S. trying to balance China's power in the region by developing India?
-- See Q1.

3. Does the U.S. hope to use India as a base of operations?
-- US sure does hope to but whether India lets it is another matter. India is a proud country which prides its independence in foreign policies, opposite of the likes of UK & Japan.
Also have to consider the facts that India has the second largest Muslim population in the world with a very large Shite section, think Iran. The communists are a strong political force there albeit in the opposition.
These factors will limit the amount of operations US can base in India.

4. How does India's Military strength compare to China's?
-- China's nuclear force is bigger. But India has more access to latest Western & Russian modern tech.
Tough call who is stronger overall. But they are separated by Himalayan ranges etc. Anyway, the chances of India-China conflict in the future are lower than one might read in western press.

5. What are the U.S. fears in that region concerning China?
-- This is the easiest one.
Fear #1, that China might takeover its top dog status.
Fear #2, see Fear #1.

Hope these help.

 

[Big-E]

I've been asked to do some research for a friend who's writing a paper and giving a presentation at the University of Washington on India's nuclear program, the recent U.S. nuclear deal and its implications.

There are five questions that I specifically want answers to, but please only if you can provide vaild proof, i.e., reputable newspapers, industry magazines, website links, book authors, etc.

1. What are the U.S. strategic interests besides arms sales to India?

2. Is the U.S. trying to balance China's power in the region by developing India?

3. Does the U.S. hope to use India as a base of operations?

4. How does India's Military strength compare to China's?

5. What are the U.S. fears in that region concerning China?

Please be specific and as detailed as possible.

Thank you for your time. I may post this elsewhere, not sure where exactly is best.

Mercenary

and the answeres for your questions are:

1)us is interested in economic and technological partnership with india,usa also wants india to look after its shipping in the indian ocean and to provide the security for us merchant vessels,the possible use of the sethusamudram canal once it is completed ,use of maintainence and berthing facilities offered by the indian harbours in this region(cochin and chennai are favoured).

2)yes,this has been frequently stated by the us media and also seems to be perfectly logical.

3)not as a base of anti-terror operations ,but usa hopes to learn about anti terror warfare from india which has 50 years experience in this field and hence usa frequently sends its soldiers and officers to the cijws(counter insurgency and jungle warfare school) at wairangte in mizoram ,which is considered to be one of the best in the world.also usa wants to collaborate with india in intelligence sharing regarding terrorist bases and infrastructure etc.

they have also recently signed an agreement with india under which both countries will jointly monitor,regulate and control the smuggling of strategic materials,materials which can be used in development of wmd,industrial wastes etc.and also to jointly combat piracy.

4)favourably(i dont want to go into the details since i dont think that this thread is a place for comparing such topics,besides this topic has already been discussed on several occassions).

5)potential displacement of usa as a global pwer ,ability to intercept us sea lines of communication in the indian ocean region in the event of a war,this is the prime reason why china is setting up its string of pearls(carefully chosen ports of call and naval bases stretching from the arabian sea,indian ocean,bay of bengal and upto the south china sea besides securing their own sea lines of communications.
this is one of the prime reasons why india is being developed by usa as a counter to china.

Asked an answered, don't duplicate threads.