Washington Provoking China and Russia in Mediterranean Sea, the Main Objective Behind Engineering the Libyan War and Syrian Unrest is to Remove the Two Major Powers from the Region, Pakistan and China Holding Joint Military Exercises, Osama Bin Laden Supposedly Found Hiding Near top Pakistani Army Base, U.S. and Saudi Arabia Trying to Wean China off Iranian Oil, China Focuses on Stability Says Pakistan Made “Important Contributions” to International Fight against Terrorism, Vladimir Putin “Dumbfounded” Over NATO Operation in Libya, Moscow Concerned Over U.S. anti-Missile Base in Romania, Will Deliver 3 Combat Helicopters to Peru
U.S. Provoking China and Russia in Mediterranean
The United States is at the risk of a war with China and Russia as its main objective behind engineering the Libyan war and Syrian unrest is to remove the two major powers from the Mediterranean, a senior former U.S. official has warned.
“Washington is all for invading Libya and is putting more and more pressure to intervene in Syria because we want to… clear China and Russia out of the Mediterranean,” Dr. Paul Craig Roberts, who served as an Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in the Reagan Administration, said during an interview with Press TV on Tuesday.
Continue Reading >> The Journal of Turkish Weekly | April 28, 2011
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Pakistan, China to hold joint military exercises
Pakistan and China will hold two joint military exercises in 2011, a Pakistani senior military leader said Tuesday.
The two exercises, one army drill and one air force one, will be held to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between Pakistan and China, said General Khalid Shameem Wynne, chairman of Pakistan’s Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee.
Continue Reading >> China Daily | February 23, 2011
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Frenemies: U.S. ally in hot seat after bin Laden found in Pakistani army town
U.S. officials have left little doubt that they did not sufficiently trust their counterparts in Pakistan to keep quiet on the plan to send a team of U.S. special forces and CIA operatives into the country on Sunday to kill Osama bin Laden. And now that the whole world knows U.S. forces found and killed bin Laden in a large, conspicuously fortified compound in an affluent Pakistani military town less than forty miles from the Pakistani capital of Islamabad, American officials are likewise making it clear that they don’t fully buy the Pakistani government’s see-no-evil line on bin Laden’s whereabouts. It’s hard for Pakistani military leaders in particular to make a credible case that they were shocked–shocked!–to learn bin Laden was right there under their noses; the Pakistani army, after all, has a college in Abbottabad about 800 yards away from the compound where bin Laden was found and killed.
Continue Reading >> Yahoo News | May 2, 2011
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How U.S. trying to wean China off Iranian oil
The United States collaborated with Saudi Arabia to increase crude oil supplies to China at the expense of Iran, U.S. diplomatic cables show. The move was designed to hurt Iran and win Beijing’s support for sanctions against Tehran over its nuclear programme.
China has long worried that oil supplies from Iran could be choked off if Beijing sides too closely with the West over Tehran’s disputed nuclear activity, which opponents say is intended to give it the means to assemble nuclear weapons. Iran insists its nuclear programme is peaceful.
But as Saudi deliveries of crude increased to China over the past years, so has Beijing’s support for U.N. sanctions against Tehran — although Chinese state oil conglomerates have been moving into the vacuum created by the withdrawal of most major players from the Iranian oil patch.
Continue Reading >> Reuters | May 2, 2011
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China focuses on stability in Pakistan
China has indicated it will deepen cooperation with Pakistan on counterterrorism issues and back its long-term strategic ally’s efforts to maintain stability, in the wake of renewed international concern over the country’s efforts to clamp down on terrorist groups on its soil following Osama bin Laden’s killing.
Continue Reading >> The Hindu | May 3, 2011
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China says Pakistan made “important contributions” to international fight against terrorism
China on Tuesday said Pakistan has made “important contributions” to the fight against terror worldwide following the U.S. announcement of Osama bin Laden’s death.
“We noticed that the Pakistani Foreign Ministry has pledged not to allow its territory to be used for terrorist attacks against any country and it will continue to support the world’s anti-terror efforts,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Jiang Yu told a regular media briefing.
Jiang said the south Asian country is at the anti-terror front-line, and its anti-terror resolve is unwavering and its action powerful.
Continue Reading >> Xinhuanet | May 3, 2011
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Putin says ‘dumbfounded’ over NATO operation in Libya
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin continued on Wednesday to criticize NATO military operations in Libya, saying that he was “dumb-founded” over how easy decisions are made to use force against countries.
When asked by a Swedish journalist, Putin, who is currently on a visit in Stockholm, said “this happens despite human rights and humanity concerns which the civilized world is believed to advocate,” apparently referring to reports about NATO planes bombing civilian objects in Libya.
“Don’t you think that there is a serious controversy between words and practice of international relations?” he said, adding that this “misbalance” should be eliminated.
Continue Reading >> RIA Novosti | April 27, 2011
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US antimissile base to be deployed in Romania
The US and Romania have agreed on the deployment of US missile defence elements on Romanian soil.
Continue Reading >> Voice of Russia | May 3, 2011
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Russia to deliver 3 combat helicopters to Peru
The Peruvian Air Force will receive next week three Russian combat helicopters intended for military operations in remote areas of the country.
Continue Reading >> Andina | May 4, 2011
Indian Army Commander: China’s Presence in Pakistan-administered Kashmir “Increasing Steadily”, China’s First Aircraft Carrier May Be Nearly Ready, Photos Released Days Before Robert Gates Visit to Beijing, Taiwan Inaugurates Missile Ships amid Buildup Vow to Offset the Perceived Military Threat from China, Former Minister of Railways Executed for Act of Sabotage and Espionage Charges in North Korea, Pyongyang Strengthens Submarine Drills Near Border, Threatens Action for US-South Korea Military Exercises, Sri Lankan Army Commander in Indonesia Defence Relations to Be Enhanced, Iran’s Oil Exports to China Increased 62%, Tehran Moscow Underline Increasing Cooperation in Oil Gas Fields, Russia Begins Refuelling Iran Nuclear Plant, China and Russia Fingered in German Industrial Espionage, Washington Gears for High-Stakes Sea-Based Missile Defense Test, With Eye on South China Sea U.S. Might Place Troops in Australia, Russia to Continue Military Conscription for Next 10-15 Years
China’s Presence in PoK “Increasing Steadily”: Army Commander
China’s presence in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) is “increasing steadily” and its troops are “actually present” along the Line-of-Control, a top Army commander said, adding the Chinese footprints are “too close for comfort” for India.
“Chinese presence in Gilgit-Baltistan and the Northern Areas is increasing steadily… There are many people who are concerned about the fact that if there was to be hostility between us and Pakistan, what would be the complicity of Chinese. Not only they are in the neighbourhood but the fact that they are actually present and stationed along the LoC,” Northern Army commander Lt Gen KT Parnaik said here last week while addressing a seminar.
He said China’s links with Pakistan through PoK “lends strength” to the “nexus” between the two countries which is a cause of “great security concern” for India.
“As part of (China’s) ‘strings of pearls’ policy, Chinese footprints are too close for comfort,” Parnaik added.
The Army commander said such a nexus between the Chinese and Pakistani military “jeopardises our regional strategic interests in the long run and and facilitates speedy and enhanced deployment of Pakistan armed forces to complement China’s military operations and thus outranks India.”
He said China has been found to be involved in the construction of numerous roads and and several hydro-power projects inside PoK.
Beijing is laying a web of roads that run across areas as distant from each other as Skardu in PoK and Kunming in China near Myanmar border.
China has already constructed roads connecting all its highways to logistic centres and major defence installations that dot the border with India and the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in south-eastern Jammu and Kashmir.
The Times of India | April 5, 2011
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Chinese Warship May Be Nearly Ready
The Chinese state news agency has posted photographs of an aircraft carrier under reconstruction that appears to show the warship near completion. Captions with the photos said that the work would end soon and that the carrier was expected to sail later this year.
[...] Xinhua’s headline with the photos said: “Huge warship on the verge of setting out, fulfilling China’s 70-year aircraft carrier dreams.” One caption said: “A few days ago, domestic online military forums consecutively published photographs of the Varyag aircraft carrier being reconstructed at China’s Dalian shipyard. From the pictures, we can see that this project is entering its final stage.” The caption noted that construction on the ship’s bridge was almost done, with the exception of a radar system.
[...] The appearance of the photos came just days before Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates visited China. Military officials tested the fighter while Mr. Gates was in Beijing, which led to a puzzling and awkward diplomatic moment between Mr. Gates and President Hu Jintao.
Continue Reading >> The New York Times | April 7, 2011
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Taiwan Inaugurates Missile Ships amid Buildup Vow
Taiwan’s President Ma Ying-jeou inaugurated a squadron of missile boats Thursday as he pledged to continue the island’s military buildup to offset the perceived military threat from China.
The fleet of 10 locally manufactured missile boats joined the navy following a ceremony presided over by Ma at the northeastern naval base in Suao.
Ma, the initiator of detente with the island’s giant neighbour, said tensions with the mainland have eased significantly since he came to power in 2008 but insisted Taiwan needed a deterrent against Beijing which claims the island as part of its territory.
Continue Reading >> AFP | April 7, 2011
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Two Former Ministers Executed in North Korea – Seoul Newspaper
[...] The newspaper reported that the North Korean former minister of railways, who occupied the post in 1998-2000, was executed over the blast case at a railway station in April 2004. This explosion was qualified as an act of sabotage targeted against a special train of a North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, who was on the way back from China.
The minister was accused of classified information leakage. The routes and the schedule of Kim’s trips were accessible only for his bodyguards and secretaries, as well as the railway minister.
Continue Reading >> ITAR-TASS | April 4, 2011
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N. Korea Strengthens Submarine Drills Near Border
North Korea has intensified submarine drills near the tense Yellow Sea border with South Korea, putting Seoul defence officials on alert, a report said Thursday.
JoongAng Ilbo newspaper, citing a Seoul military source, said the North had been staging exercises involving five or six submarines at the Bipagot submarine base on its west coast since last month.
They feature the signature 325-tonne submarines as well as the new and bigger Shark-class submarines called K-300, it said.
“It’s highly unusual for them to beef up submarine drills in March so we’re intensely monitoring the situation,” said the source.
Continue Reading >> AFP | April 7, 2011
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N. Korea Threatens Action for US-SKorea Drills
North Korea warned Friday that its military would not remain a “passive onlooker” if South Korea and the United States continued joint military drills, state media reported.
The threat came from Ri Yong-Ho, a vice marshal of the North’s armed forces, at a meeting attended by top government, military and party officials in Pyongyang.
Continue Reading >> AFP | April 8, 2011
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SL, Indonesia Defence Relations to Be Enhanced
Sri Lankan Army Commander Lieutenant General Jagath Jayasuriya’s official visit to Indonesia has resulted in further strengthening the longstanding and excellent defence relations between the two nations and their armed forces.
Army sources say that it also provided opportunity to explore further defence cooperation between the two countries.
Continue Reading >> Daily News | April 6, 2011
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Iran’s Oil Exports to China Increased in 2011
The Islamic Republic of Iran’s crude oil exports to China increased 62 percent in the first two months of 2011, Xinhua reported.
In January-February 2011, Iran’s crude exports to China increased 62 percent compared to the same period last year.
During the mentioned time, China has totally imported 45.73 million tons half of which has been supplied by the countries in the Middle East.
Iran’s crude oil exports to China reached 4.11 million tons during the two months. Iran has been second biggest crude supplier to China.
Saudi Arabia exported 8.19 million tons of oil to China and it was ranked first supplying 20 percent of the Asian country’s oil demand during the same period.
Mojnews | April 6, 2011
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Tehran, Moscow Underline Increasing Cooperation in Oil, Gas Fields
Iranian Deputy Vice-President for Economic Affairs Ali Aqa Mohammadi and Chief Executive of Russia’s Gazprom Company Alexei Miller in a meeting in Moscow underscored the necessity for the further promotion of mutual cooperation between the two countries in the oil and gas sectors.
Continue Reading >> Fars New Agency | April 7, 2011
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Russia Begins Refuelling Iran Nuclear Plant
Russia on Friday resumed loading fuel into Iran’s first nuclear power plant after it had to be removed because of an apparent technical fault, news reports said.
Continue Reading >> AFP | April 8, 2011
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China and Russia Fingered in German Industrial Espionage Alert
Industrial espionage by China and Russia is becoming easier thanks to computer hacking, officials warned German business leaders on Thursday, adding that police need data logs to track computer break-ins.
A conference heard that the annual cost to German companies of data theft was at least 20 billion euros (nearly 30 billion dollars).
[...] “Russia and China are the main sources of so-called industrial espionage in Germany,” Schroeder said.
Continue Reading >> Monsters and Critics | April 7, 2011
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U.S. Gears for High-Stakes Missile Defense Test
The United States is preparing for its first test of a sea-based defense against longer-range missiles of a type that officials say could soon threaten Europe from Iran.
Continue Reading >> Reuters | April 7, 2011
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With Eye on South China Sea, U.S. Might Place Troops in Australia
American troops might soon find themselves serving in Australia as the United States looks for better access to the South China Sea, the source of much friction between China and many other Pacific nations.
During testimony on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, Adm. Robert Willard, the commander of the U.S. Pacific Command, said Australians would like to see an increase of U.S. military activities Down Under.
[...] U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has said he has a group studying the idea of U.S. troops rotating through existing Australian bases, but he doesn’t want to create any new permanent bases in the Pacific. And he remained diplomatic when asked whether such a plan would be about keeping China in check.
[...] The United States and Australia have been on the same side of every major war since World War I. Australia has the largest group of troops from a non-NATO country fighting in Afghanistan.
Continue Reading >> CNN | April 8, 2011
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Russia to Continue Military Conscription for Next 10-15 Years – Medvedev
The Russian Armed Forces will continue using a mixture of conscripts and contracted recruits for the next 10-15 years, President Dmitry Medvedev said on Monday.
Russia is in the process of reforming its armed forces by shifting the focus away from a largely inefficient body of conscripted soldiers toward a smaller professional army.
Continue Reading >> RIA Novosti | April 4, 2011
Russia Hopes Turkey Will Eventually Give the Green Light to the South Stream Gas Pipeline Project, “Turkey to OK South Stream When Conditions Met”, “Project is Not in the Best Interest of Ukraine and the Country is Working against it”, Iran Plans to Invest $90 Billion in South Pars Gas Field, U.K. Royal Dutch Shell Drilling 17 Gas Wells in China, Beijing Urges Quick End to American-Led Airstrikes in Libya, Considers the Security Situation in the Asia-Pacific as “Volatile”, Points to the U.S. Reinforcement of Military Alliances and Rising Suspicions in the Region, Seeks to Reinforce Trust With Neighbours, Will Stick to a Defensive Military Doctrine, The World’s Largest Arms Importer is Now India Not China, South Korea U.S. Conduct Large Military Exercise in Yellow Sea, Singapore Thailand U.S. Conclude Military Drill, Naval Exercises Between the Philippines and Malaysia, Venezuela’s $15 Billion Weapons Purchase Concerns Latin America, Joint Ghana U.S. Jungle Warfare Exercise Ends
Russia hopes Turkey will approve South Stream
Russia hopes Turkey will eventually give the green light to the section of the South Stream gas pipeline project that crosses its territory, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday.
Turkey has not given its consent to the laying of part of the 15.5-billion-euro marine pipeline across its Black Sea territory. South Stream is designed to diversify Russian gas export routes, and will stretch to Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast and then on to Italy and Austria.
[...] The land section of the pipeline will go across Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary, Greece, Slovenia, Croatia and Austria, with whom Russia has already signed intergovernmental agreements.
Continue Reading >> RIA Novosti | March 22, 2011
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“Turkey to OK South Stream When Conditions Met”
Energy Minister Taner Yıldız said Turkey would still abide by the terms of a 2009 agreement with Russia over a proposed underwater pipeline that will carry natural gas to Europe bypassing Ukraine.
South Stream, controlled by Russian Gazprom and Italian Eni, is planned to carry Russian natural gas under the Black Sea to Bulgaria and on to Europe via Italy and Austria. In an exclusive interview with Today’s Zaman, Yıldız reaffirmed the Turkish position on the $21.5 billion pipeline project called South Stream, saying nothing had changed on the Turkish side. “We are still waiting for the environmental impact studies, as well as feasibility studies, on South Stream to see if the required criteria demanded by Turkey are met. If met, there is no question we would give our approval to the project,” he said.
Continue Reading >> Today’s Zaman | March 26, 2011
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Minister: Ukraine Works Against South Stream
The South Stream natural gas pipeline project is not in the best interest of Ukraine and the country is working against it, according to Ukrainian Minister of Energy Yuriy Boyko.
Boyko said his country is undergoing “tense discussions” with Russia, the main country supporting the project, set to deliver gas to southern and central Europe, bypassing Ukraine.
“South Stream is a political project of our Russian partners, who want to create an excess of transit capacities for gas, like what they did back in the day for oil,” said the Ukrainian minister, quoted by MIGnews.
Boyko said that in collaboration with Ukraine’s “EU partners,” the country will be putting efforts so that in the end the pipeline be not built.
Sofia News Agency | April 2, 2011
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Iran Plans to Invest $90B in South Pars
Iran’s Oil Ministry plans to invest about $90 billion in South Pars gas field in the current Iranian calendar year (started March 21), Oil Minister Masoud Mirkazemi said.
According to Mirkazemi, about $60 billion of the mentioned amount will be allocated to the upstream projects and about $30 billion to the downstream sector, SHANA News Network reported.
The official also noted that an extra $20 billion will be invested in the petrochemical projects of the giant field.
Mirkazemi further said that the Oil Ministry plans to complete the developing projects of all the remaining phases of the field within 35 months.
The Iranian oil minister also stressed the need for foreign investment in the site to speed up the projects, saying that once all the phases of the South Pars come on stream, the field can produce 25 million cubic meters of natural gas and about 40,000 barrels of liquefied natural gas per day, making the country’s annual revenue from the field hit $110 billion, Press TV reported.
The South Pars gas field is located in the Persian Gulf in the border zone between Iran and Qatar. The field’s reserves are estimated at 14 trillion cubic meters of gas and 18 billion barrels of liquefied natural gas.
Payvand Iran News | April 1, 2011
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Shell Drilling 17 China Gas Wells
U.K. oil major Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA.LN) is drilling 17 wells in China, including for tight gas and shale gas, Reuters reported Sunday, citing Chief Executive Peter Voser.
If drilling is successful, Shell plans to spend $1 billion a year during the next five year years on shale gas in China, Voser was quoted as saying.
MarketWatch | March 20, 2011
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China Urges Quick End to Airstrikes in Libya
China escalated its opposition to American-led airstrikes on Libya on Tuesday, joining Russia and India in calls for an immediate cease-fire and suggesting that coalition forces were imperiling civilians by exceeding the United Nations-mandated no-fly zone.
[...] China’s response to the campaign has been the most forceful, warning that the assault could bring about a “humanitarian disaster.” In a news briefing Tuesday, Jiang Yu, a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, called for an end to hostilities. “We’ve seen reports that the use of armed force is causing civilian casualties, and we oppose the wanton use of armed force leading to more civilian casualties,” she said.
China was one of five countries to abstain from the United Nations resolution that authorized the allied airstrikes against the forces of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, which have been seeking to crush a rebellion against his four-decade rule. Russia, Brazil, India and Germany also abstained, while South Africa joined nine other Security Council members in supporting the resolution approved last week.
In its decision to abstain rather than block the resolution through its veto power, China said it was heeding the wishes of the Arab League and the African Union.
Continue Reading >> The New York Times | March 22, 2011
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China to Reinforce Trust With Neighbours
The Chinese government on Thursday said it viewed the security situation in the Asia-Pacific as “volatile”, pointing to the United States “reinforcing” regional military alliances and rising suspicions among China’s neighbours.
In a national defence white paper issued on Thursday, China said it would seek to expand confidence-building measures with its neighbours, as well as stick to a defence policy that was defensive in nature.
The white paper, the seventh that China has issued since 1998, portrayed a strained regional security environment, describing the Asia-Pacific region, in particular, as “volatile.”
“Relevant major powers are increasing their strategic investment,” said the paper. “The United States is reinforcing its regional military alliances, and increasing its involvement in regional security affairs.”
Continue Reading >> The Hindu | March 31, 2011
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The World’s Largest Arms Importer is Now India, Not China
India has spent US$80 billion to modernize its military to keep up with China and now, India has become the world’s number one arms importer according to Swedish think-tank keeping tabs on global arms transactions. India makes up 9 percent of global arms purchases while China has 6 percent of market share in comparison.
“India has ambitions to become first a continental and [then] a regional power,” Rahul Bedi, an analyst with London-based Jane’s Defence Weekly, told AP.
“Just from what they have already ordered, we know that in the coming few years India will be the top importer,” said Siemon Wezeman, a senior fellow at SIPRI told the International Business Times.
SIPRI’s report stated India’s defense budget for the coming fiscal year is in the region of $32.5 billion, 40 percent more than in 2009. In addition, India will spend over $50 billion in the next five years to modernize its military – including purchasing new fighter jets and aircraft carriers.
“The kind of purchases that India is buying, no country in the world buys,” added Bedi of Jane’s Defence Weekly. India has also been importing 82 percent of its weapons from Russia and plans to purchase 250 to 300 advanced fifth-generation stealth fighter jets worth $30 billion in the next decade.
SIPRI also included in its report:
Average volume of global arms transfers in 2006-2010 increased 24 percent from 2001-2005.
Asia and Oceania accounts for 43 percent of arms imports, Europe for 12 percent, 17 percent in the Middle East, 12 percent in the Americas and 7 percent in Africa.
The largest arms importers are locate in Asia with India accounting for 9 percent of all imports, 6 percent in China, 6 percent in South Korea and 5 percent in Pakistan.
USA remains the world’s largest exporter of military equipment and totals 30 percent of global arms exports in 2006-2010; of which 44 percent were exported to Asia and Oceania, 28 percent in the Middle East and 19 percent to Europe.
EconomyWatch | March 30, 2011
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S. Korea, US Conduct Large Military Exercise in Yellow Sea
A large-scale South Korea-U.S. military exercise in the Yellow Sea seeks to prepare for North Korea`s use of nuclear weapons, ballistic missiles, submarines and special forces to destroy or blockade major infrastructure in the South.
Continue Reading >> Donga.com | March 24, 2011
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Singapore, Thailand, US Conclude Military Exercise
Singapore, Thailand and the United States concluded the trilateral “Exercise Cope Tiger 2011″ at Korat Air Base in Thailand on Friday.
[...] About 100 aircraft and 34 ground-based air defence systems were deployed.
[...] More than 2,300 personnel took part.
Continue Reading >> Channelnewsasia | March 26, 2011
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Military Exercises Strengthens RP-Malaysian Relations
The ten-day military exercises between the Philippine Navy and the Royal Malaysian Navy, which concluded March 25, has been beneficial to both parties and was a success in its purpose, the Naval Forces West (NFW) claimed. The activity opened on March 16.
Continue Reading >> Zamboanga Today | April 1, 2011
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Hugo Chavez’s $15 Billion Weapons Purchase Concerns Latin America
With the acquisition of hundreds of tanks, helicopters and bulletproof vehicles as well as submarines and missile networks, Venezuela is arming itself at a speed unprecedented in the history of the South American country.
Continue Reading >> McClatchy | March 21, 2011
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Joint Ghana, US Military Exercise Ends
The Africa Partnership Station (APS) 2011 jungle exercise, conducted by personnel of the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) and the United States Marines, has ended at Achiase Jungle Warfare in the Eastern Region.
[...] The two-week training exercise comprised 100 troops from GAF and 42 US Marines.
Continue Reading >> Vibeghana | March 22, 2011
Afghan President : U.S. Seeking Permanent Military Bases, U.S. Postpones Meeting with Pakistan and Afghanistan, Threatens to Cut Aid to Pakistan, Pakistan Issues Arrest Warrant for Former President Exiled in London, U.S. National Who Trained London Suicide Bombers Released for “Exceptional Cooperation”, Former Senior Taliban Member Visits Britain for Secret Insurgency-Ending Talks
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has confirmed that the Obama Administration has been in secret talks with him to formalize a system of permanent military bases across the war torn nation, effectively pledging to keep the unpopular occupation a permanent aspect of life in Afghanistan.
Continue Reading >> Press TV | February 9, 2011
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U.S. Postpones Meeting With Pakistan and Afghanistan
The United States this weekend postponed high-level talks to be held in Washington with Pakistan and Afghanistan, a sign of the displeasure with Pakistan over the arrest of an American official accused of murder.
The talks scheduled for Feb. 23 and Feb. 24, held annually to discuss the war in Afghanistan, involve foreign ministers and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.
[...] The State Department did not give a precise public explanation for the postponement of the talks except to say that “in light of the political changes in Pakistan” the talks would not go ahead.
But American officials said the talks were postponed because it was unlikely they would produce anything worthwhile in the charged atmosphere between Pakistan and the United States.
Continue Reading >> The New York Times | February 13, 2011
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US Threatens to Cut Aid to Pakistan
US congress members have threatened to stop aid to Pakistan unless it releases an American detained over shooting deaths of two Pakistani men.
[...] Many observers have questioned whether Davis was an ordinary diplomat.
Three members of the US House of Representatives drove home the point on a visit to Pakistan, telling Yusuf Raza Gilani, the Pakistani prime minister, that congress was working on its budget and looking for areas to cut.
Continue Reading >> Al-Jazeera | February 9, 2011
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Pakistan Issues Arrest Warrant for Pervez Musharraf
A Pakistani anti-terrorism court has issued an arrest warrant for former military ruler Pervez Musharraf over the assassination of an opposition leader. [...] Mr Musharraf – who lives in self-imposed exile in London – denies the allegations. His spokesman, Fawad Chaudhry, said Mr Musharraf had no intention of returning to Pakistan for the hearing.
Continue Reading >> BBC News | February 11, 2011
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Terrorist Who Trained 7/7 Bomber Released After Five Years
A terrorist who was jailed for founding a training camp where the leader of the July 7 London suicide bombers were taught to make bombs has been released from prison after serving less than five years, it was claimed.
American Mohammed Junaid Babar walked free just four and a half years into a sentence that could have lasted as long as 70, prompting claims he may have been acting as an informant.
The decision to sentence him to “time served” due to what a New York judge termed his “exceptional co-operation” dating back to before his arrest led to suggestions Babar could have been helping US authorities even while helping to train the man who led the 2005 attacks on London.
[...] According to court documents Babar was sentenced to “time served” in court on December 10, six years after being arrested.
He had spent slightly more than four years in prison and two years on bail.
Continue Reading >> The Daily Telegraph | February 14, 2011
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Former Senior Taliban Member Visits Britain
A former high-ranking member of the Taliban has made the first visit to Britain by a member of the regime to take part in secret negotiations.
Mullah Abdul Salaam Zaeef, a member of the Taliban government before September 11, visited London last week amid closely controlled security.
Zaeef, who is still said to be close to Mullah Omar, the leader of the Taliban, attended a closed conference part funded by the Foreign Office to discuss peace proposals aimed at ending the fighting.
The Taliban leader arrived in Britain on Wednesday and stayed in a central London hotel. He was banned from speaking publicly by the terms of his visa but is thought to have held private meetings with British officials.
Britain is attempting to facilitate talks between Hamid Karzai, the Afghan President, and senior members of the Taliban.
A senior Foreign Office official said last month that senior members of the Taliban have been putting out “feelers” about making peace with the Western-backed government in Kabul.
Continue Reading >> The Daily Telegraph | February 13, 2011
Russian Intelligence : US to Supply Georgia with Anti-Aircraft and Anti-Tank Weapons
The United States has expressed its readiness to supply Georgia with more anti-aircraft and anti-tank weapons worth tens of millions of dollars, a source in the Russian special services has said.
Russian news agency ITAR-TASS quoted the unnamed source as saying that the weapons will be supplied through third-party countries, as is usually practiced by the United States.
Russia Today | January 11, 2011
Polish-Russian Relations and Implications for the Baltic Region
Analyst Marko Papic uses recent developments in Poland, Sweden and Russia to examine the evolving geopolitics of the Baltic region in 2011.
Stratfor | January 5, 2011
Russia-China Oil Pipeline Opens
The first oil pipeline linking the world’s biggest oil producer, Russia, and the world’s biggest consumer of energy, China, has begun operating.
The pipeline, running between Siberia and the northeastern Chinese city of Daqing, will allow a rapid increase in oil exports between the two countries.
Until now, Russian oil has been transported to China by rail.
Concentrated in western Siberia, Russia’s network of pipelines for oil exports has so far run towards Europe.
Russia is expected to export 15m tonnes of oil through the new pipeline each year during the next two decades – about 300,000 barrels a day.
BBC News | January 2, 2011
China Quietly Extends Footprints Into Central Asia
Murghab, Tajikistan — On the outskirts of this wind-scoured town, founded in 1893 as a Russian military post, the construction of a new customs compound heralds the return of another major power.
When it opens this year, the sprawling new lot will accommodate much larger caravans of Chinese trucks than the existing trade depot, speeding the flow of clothing, electronics and household appliances that have lately flooded Central Asia, from nomadic yurts on the Kyrgyz steppes to ancient alleyways in Samarkand and Bukhara.
“Trade is growing between China and all these countries around it,” said Tu’er Hong, whose truck was one of about 50 from China transferring goods to Tajik drivers one day recently at the current post.
While China is seizing the spotlight in East and Southeast Asia with its widening economic footprint and muscular diplomacy, it is also quietly making its presence felt on its western flank, once primarily Russia’s domain.
Chinese officials see Central Asia as a critical frontier for their nation’s energy security, trade expansion, ethnic stability and military defense. State enterprises have reached deep into the region with energy pipelines, railroads and highways, while the government has recently opened Confucius Institutes to teach Mandarin in capitals across Central Asia.
Central Asia, says Gen. Liu Yazhou of the People’s Liberation Army, is “the thickest piece of cake given to the modern Chinese by the heavens.”
The New York Times | January 2, 2011
China’s Ties with Pakistan Concern U.S. Officials
China’s Prime Minister Wen Jiabao’s recent visit to Pakistan and the trade deals struck during that trip show China has much greater influence over Pakistan than the U.S.
Newsy | December 19, 2010
Japan Throws Aside its Pacifist Post World War II Military Doctrine
The Japanese government encouraged by the United States round-the-clock show of military capabilities against global adversaries has just decided to switch its own long-held post WWII pacifism into a more confrontational one.
Tokyo cited the rise of China’s military and its military presence around disputed islands as the reason behind change in its military doctrine. Japan’s claims on the Kuril Islands are also increasing tensions with Moscow. The Japanese economy experienced rapid growth after WWII devastations until a decade ago when the last Asian financial crisis seem to have permanently damaged its once innovative export-driven economy under the merci of China or even South Korea.
On Friday the administration of Naoto Kan, decided to confront Chinese military buildup and North Korea’s progress in the field of nuclear technology. Tokyo plans almost 24 trillion yen defense spending for five years. Like most Western industrial nations’ blind pursuit of US-led casino capitalism, Japan today suffers under huge public debt that is at least twice the size of its GDP.
Apparently, since it would be difficult to harness a behemoth like China, both Tokyo and Washington may be seeing the rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula as a lifetime opportunity. Elimination of South Korea’s industrial exports after a devastating war with powerful North Korea would ensure that both Japan and U.S. could have the chance to fill in after South Korean exports, thus giving themselves some temporary comforts. That might explain why recently Washington and Tokyo drew up joint military agreement to counter China, while at the same time US and South Korea separately conduct their joint military maneuvers near disputed areas.
A newly published report by the Japanese military reflected the growing anxiety over China’s rising power, rapid modernization of its military and maritime activities. It noted, ‘These movements, coupled with the lack of transparency in its military and security matters, have become a matter of concern for the region and the international community’ The reported also viewed North Korea’s rapid development in the field of nuclear technology as a present and grave destabilizing factor to the security of our country and the region.
Hamsayeh | December 17, 2010
Russian Warships Visit Sri Lanka, Heading to Gulf of Aden
A Pacific Fleet’s task force led by the Admiral Vinogradov destroyer will complete on Saturday a three-day visit to Sri Lanka and head to the Gulf of Aden to fight sea piracy in the region.
The visit to the port of Colombo coincided with the 60th anniversary of Sri Lanka’s Navy.
“During the friendly stay the Russian sailors visited the mayor’s office and several military facilities,” a spokesman for Russia’s Pacific Fleet said.
The Admiral Vinogradov destroyer is accompanied on the current mission by a salvage tug and the Pechenga tanker.
The task force is to replace the naval group led by Northern Fleet’s Admiral Levchenko Udaloy class guided-missile destroyer. The group, which also includes the Olekma tanker and the SB-36 tugboat of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, arrived in the Gulf of Aden on July 3.
The Russian Navy has maintained a presence off the Horn of Africa since October 2008, with warships operating on a rotation basis.
RIA Novosti | December 11, 2010
Russia Warns Poland Against Hosting US F-16 Fighter Jets
Russia on Dec. 9 warned Poland against hosting U.S. F-16 fighter jets, possibly from 2013, saying it would work to counter the move.
Polish Defense Minister Bogdan Klich announced last month that his country would accept a U.S. proposal to host rotations of F-16 and Hercules transport aircraft and their crews on its territory.
Defence Talk | December 10, 2010
Secret US-Nato Plans to Defend Poland and Baltic States Against Russia
Washington and its western allies have for the first time since the end of the cold war drawn up classified military plans to defend the most vulnerable parts of eastern Europe against Russian threats, according to confidential US diplomatic cables.
The US state department ordered an information blackout when the decision was taken earlier this year. Since January the blueprint has been refined.
Nine Nato divisions – US, British, German, and Polish – have been identified for combat operations in the event of armed aggression against Poland or the three Baltic states. North Polish and German ports have been listed for the receipt of naval assault forces and British and US warships. The first Nato exercises under the plan are to take place in the Baltic next year, according to informed sources.
Following years of transatlantic dispute over the new policy, Nato leaders are understood to have quietly endorsed the strategy at a summit in Lisbon last month.
Despite President Barack Obama’s policy of “resetting” relations with Russia, which was boosted at the Nato summit attended by Russian president, Dmitry Medvedev, the state department fears that the major policy shift could trigger “unnecessary tensions” with Moscow.
The decision to draft contingency plans for Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania was taken secretly earlier this year at the urging of the US and Germany at Nato headquarters in Belgium, ending years of division at the heart of the western alliance over how to view Vladimir Putin’s Russia.
The decision, according to a secret cable signed by Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, marks the start of a major revamp of Nato defence planning in Europe.
The Guardian | December 6, 2010
Australia told US to ready to use force in China
Former leader Kevin Rudd praised Australia’s “robust” ties with China Monday, after a leaked cable showed him urging the US to be ready to use force against the rising power “if everything goes wrong”.
In wide-ranging talks with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Rudd also described Chinese leaders as “paranoid” about Taiwan and Tibet, and said that his push for a new Asia-Pacific body was designed to contain Chinese influence.
Rudd refused to confirm the details in the confidential memo released by Wikileaks, but defended Australia’s “robust” ties with the Asian powerhouse, adding that he would not be contacting Beijing over the comments.
AFP | December 6, 2010
North Korea as a Buffer State for China
Lawrence Wilkerson: Wikileaks cables may show that China no longer need North Korea as a buffer state.
TheRealNews | December 5, 2010
South Korean Spies Intercepted Plans for Yeonpyeong Island Attack in August
The National Intelligence Service intercepted hints that North Korea was planning to shell Yeonpyeong Island, three months before the attack, it emerged on Wednesday.
Members of the National Assembly Intelligence Committee quoted NIS Director Won Sei-hoon as saying the agency knew from wiretapping that the North Korean regime ordered the military to prepare to attack the five islands in the West Sea. He said the NIS submitted the intelligence report to President Lee Myung-bak.
Committee members said since the North is constantly making such threats, the government apparently failed to take it seriously.
The Chosunilbo | December 3, 2010
China Considers Options After North Korean Strike
China Director Jennifer Richmond examines Beijing’s diplomatic options with Pyongyang after the Nov. 23 artillery attack on Yeonpyeong Island.
Stratfor | November 30, 2010
India to Deploy 36.000 Extra Troops on Chinese Border
India has formed two new army divisions – comprising more than 36,000 men – to defend the north-eastern state of Arunachal Pradesh.
The remote north-eastern state adjoins China which claims large parts of it.
The 56th Division will be based in the nearby state of Nagaland to guard the eastern flank of Arunachal Pradesh from Chinese attack through Burma.
The other new formation, the 71st Division, will be based in Assam to protect central Arunachal Pradesh.
There has been no response so far from China to the decision.
Mountain warfare
Already the Indian Fifth Mountain Division guards western Arunachal Pradesh while another division is responsible for protecting the eastern part of the state.
In addition there are counter-insurgency troops in Assam who can be sent to the Sino-Indian border at short notice.
A total of 1,260 officers and 35,011 soldiers have been assigned to the two new divisions, which are being especially equipped for mountain warfare.
Officials say they were formed at the behest of the Indian army chief, General VK Singh – who said they were necessary to beef up defences against China.
Gen Singh was not available for comment but one of his staff officers, on condition of anonymity, told the BBC that the army chief had “pushed very hard to fast-track the raising of the two divisions”.
He said that they should be “fully operational” by March 2011.
He said their formation was India’s response to the “huge Chinese build-up” in Tibet over the last three to four years. But he did not wish to elaborate.
India is also raising a paramilitary force called the Arunachal Scouts and Sikkim Scouts to help the army protect the Sino-Indian border in the states of Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim.
“All the men in these formations will be drawn from mountain-fit local tribesmen but the officers will be from the army, at least for a while,” said a corps commander.
Their formation will be modelled on the Ladakh Scouts, who the army says bravely fought Pakistani intruders during the Kargil conflict of 1999.
India says the new measures have been put in place partly because China has “superb” communications on its side of the border, especially after a new train line to Lhasa was built in 2006.
India says that the Chinese airlift capability is also far superior.
The formation of the two new divisions means that India’s deployments in the eastern sector of its border with China now matches the five army divisions that existed in 1986-87, when the two countries nearly went to war.
But after India and China signed a “Peace and Tranquillity” treaty in 1993, both sides scaled down their deployments as part of a confidence-building package.
BBC News | November 24, 2010
Chinese-built port in Sri Lanka fuels Indian fears
Port in Hambantota, Sri Lanka is latest in string of deepwater ports built with Chinese aid along Indian ocean coast.
A vast new Chinese-built and funded port was inaugurated today in the far south of Sri Lanka, fuelling the growing concern of neighbours India that they are being encircled by Beijing.
The deep-water facility at Hambantota on the south coast of the island was officially opened by President Mahinda Rajapaksa to kick off spectacular festivities celebrating the official start of his second term in office.
The Mahinda Rajapaksa port, built by Chinese labourers and engineers in a turn-key operation funded by soft Chinese loans, lies in the political heartland of Rajapaksa who, though controversial in the west for his alleged involvement in human rights abuses and autocratic style, remains popular among rural constituencies and the Sinhalese ethnic majority in the island nation. A traditional sailing yacht was the first vessel to dock in the port, followed by a cruise ship with dozens of saffron-robed Buddhist monks chanting prayers on its deck.
Sri Lanka is the focus of a contest for influence between Delhi and Beijing. India is particularly concerned about the so-called “string of pearls” – a chain of deepwater ports built with Chinese aid along the Indian ocean coast. “India should be closely monitoring developments like this which attest to a growing Chinese presence in the neighbourhood,” said Uday Bhasker, a former India navy commodore.
However, Professor Srikanth Kondapalli, of Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University, said Beijing’s priority was to safeguard its access to oil: “China imports 200m tonnes of oil each year and 80% of that travels across the Indian Ocean. They have therefore developed a series of major ports and in the future could potentially position naval military craft.”
According to Sri Lankan government spokesmen, the aim of the port was “to capitalise on the opportunity that is offered by the island’s new era of peace to bring prosperity to all.”
Since the end of the 25 year civil war against separatists from the nation’s Tamil minority last year, the economy has boomed. A massive influx of foreign capital – and tourists – is expected with income for many Sri Lankans predicted to double in the next five or ten years.
Rajapaksa, who turned 65 today, is hoping to turn Sri Lanka into a major transport and trade hub and a luxury tourist destination. The former lawyer has announced that Hambantota will bid for the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
The Guardian | November 18, 2010
US to spend 500 million dollars on embassy in Afghanistan
The United States is bolstering its presence in Afghanistan with a 500 million dollar expansion of its Kabul embassy and the construction of two consulates, it announced Wednesday.
Washington’s Kabul embassy is already its biggest in the world, with about 1,100 employees, projected to rise to 1,200 by the end of the year, officials said.
Hundreds have arrived over the course of this year as part of a “civilian surge” bringing development experts into the country to compliment the military effort already in its 10th year.
The United States and NATO have 150,000 troops in Afghanistan fighting the Taliban-led insurgency, following a military surge aimed at speeding an end to the war.
The embassy expansion contract was worth 511 million dollars and had been awarded under US law to an American company, Caddell Construction Inc., ambassador Karl Eikenberry said.
Another two contracts, worth 20 million dollars each, have been awarded for the construction of consulates in Herat, the main city in western Afghanistan, and Mazar-I-Sharif in the north, he said.
Speaking to a gathering of Afghan officials, Eikenberry said the expansion would enable the United States “to carry out its pledge to maintain into the future its very significant security, government, economic and civil society programmes”.
AFP | November 5, 2010
India’s Strategic Future
Why India needs to move from “strategic autonomy” to strategic cooperation with the United States.
Unlike in Washington, where governments are noisy in articulating their worldviews, for the permanent bureaucracy that runs New Delhi’s foreign policy, silence is golden. But Delhi’s reluctance to articulate a grand strategy does not necessarily mean it does not have one. Since India embraced globalization at the turn of the 1990s, many of its traditional strategic objectives have evolved, and the pace of that evolution has gathered momentum as India’s economic growth has accelerated in recent years.
Yet the United States remains unclear about its potential ally’s goals and objectives. Despite significant advances in Indo-U.S. relations during George W. Bush’s presidency and bipartisan agreement in Washington to support India’s rise, Barack Obama’s administration has found it hard to make big strategic advances. U.S. officials dealing with Afghanistan and Pakistan seem to find India — and particularly its reluctance to offer concessions on Kashmir that might presumably encourage Pakistan to cooperate more thoroughly in Afghanistan — part of the problem. American negotiators on climate change and trade find the notorious prickliness of the old non aligned India alive and well. And the Pentagon is frustrated in its efforts to build a partnership with a New Delhi that resists cooperation on U.S. terms. But American strategists should take heart: If Washington can be patient, endure an extended courtship, and above all take a longer-term view of the relationship with Delhi, it will find much to like about India’s foreign policy.
The problem for India’s top strategists is not that they don’t seek a grand bargain with the United States. It is about negotiating equitable terms. It is also about bringing along a political elite and bureaucracy that are adapting too slowly to the new imperatives of a stronger partnership with Washington. But make no mistake: Engagement with the United States has been the Indian establishment’s highest foreign-policy priority over the last decade and a half.
India’s grand strategy has four broad objectives. In all four areas, strategic cooperation with the United States is critical.
India’s first objective is to pacify the northwestern part of the subcontinent, or the AfPak region, as it is known in Washington. All of India’s great empire-states throughout the last 2,500 years, from the Mauryans to the British Raj, have had trouble controlling these turbulent lands across the Indus River that frame the subcontinent’s western frontier.
Indeed, ever since Alexander the Great and his army first arrived on the banks of the Indus, most foreign forces and alien ideologies have come to what is now India through the northwestern route. In the past, India managed to absorb the invaders and modify their ideologies. All it needed was sufficient time. But weakened by the subcontinent’s partition in 1947 and faced with U.S. and Chinese support for Pakistan during the Cold War, India has had little time and space to manage the conflict with its troublesome sibling to the northwest.
American commentators often discount the threat that Pakistan’s military poses to India. Indian strategists don’t have that luxury. Armed with nuclear weapons and allied with radical Islam, the Pakistani Army remains extremely dangerous — a situation compounded by America’s current dependence on Islamabad to pursue its objectives in Afghanistan and in the tribal areas across the border.
The challenge for India is not just about managing its differences with U.S. policies in Afghanistan and Pakistan. New Delhi has no choice but to work with Washington to stabilize its northwest. That in turn involves encouraging the United States to think very differently about Pakistan and its relations with Afghanistan and India. And that demands getting the United States to pressure the Pakistani Army to end its promotion of extremism in Afghanistan and India.
Both New Delhi and Washington want to move the AfPak region toward political moderation, economic modernization, and regional integration. Neither can achieve these objectives on their own. But they have so far failed to have an honest discussion about how to move forward together, let alone begin coordinating their policies.
India’s second objective is to become an indispensable power in the littorals of the Indian Ocean and southwestern Pacific. For nearly two centuries until partition, the British Raj was the source of stability and the main provider of security in these regions. But after independence in 1947, India chose an inward economic orientation and focused on the global mobilization of the Third World during the Cold War. Not surprisingly, India resented the dominance of the Anglo-American powers in its strategic backyard.
As the power of a rising China today radiates across the subcontinent, the Indian Ocean, and the western Pacific, balancing Beijing has become an urgent matter — especially given the relative decline of the United States. In the past, India balanced Beijing through a de facto alliance with the Soviet Union. Today, it needs a strategic partnership with the United States to ensure that China’s rise will continue to be peaceful. With Washington yet to make up its mind on how best to deal with Beijing, India has no option but to hedge against growing Chinese power as well as the dangers of a potential Sino-American condominium. This necessarily involves nuanced bilateral economic and political engagement with China, albeit with eyes wide open.
Meanwhile, New Delhi’s focus is on China’s neighbors. India is holding on to its old partnership with Moscow, stepping up its economic and security cooperation with Japan, South Korea, and Mongolia, and raising its economic and strategic profile in Southeast Asia and Australasia.
India’s third objective is to increase its weight in global governance and eventually emerge as a “rule-maker” in the international system. In that sense, India’s civil nuclear initiative with the Bush administration was as much about producing electric power as it was about redefining India’s position in the global nonproliferation regime. But U.S. support for India’s bid to become a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council has been elusive. The United States, instead, wants to test whether India is a “responsible stakeholder” in the negotiations on issues ranging from climate change to international trade. From India’s perspective, these American benchmarks have tended to be self-serving and defined by the latest intellectual fashion in Washington. India is prepared to engage on these issues and participate more fully in global decision-making bodies on the basis of its own enlightened self-interest, but is not prepared to take tests from anyone.
India’s fourth objective is to strengthen the factors that are critical for becoming a credible power on the regional and global stages. This involves sustaining its current high economic growth rate, consolidating its advantages in knowledge industries, providing education and skills to its younger population, and modernizing its armed forces and security agencies. On all these fronts, India needs deeper and more open cooperation with the United States through the integration of their advanced technology sectors, trade liberalization, opening the Indian education system to American universities and community colleges, U.S. investments in the Indian defense industry, and American expertise to upgrade Indian intelligence gathering and processing. New Delhi is already engaged with Washington on all these fronts, but the results remain way below potential.
Most of all, the United States needs to recognize that it is dealing with a new India. For too long, India saw itself as a weak, developing country unwilling to unlearn its anti-colonial grievances. Only in recent years has India begun to inch away from its previous focus on the chimera of “strategic autonomy” to emphasize its own role in shaping the regional and global environments.
In the past, India’s internal identity as a liberal democracy was in tension with its external image as the leader of the global south against the West. A rising India — with its robust democracy, thriving entrepreneurial capitalism, and expanding global interests — is bound to acquire a new identity as a champion of liberal international order.
What remains to be seen is whether the Obama administration can seize this moment. Obama has certainly talked the talk, but it is not clear whether his administration is ready to walk the walk to accommodate India’s rise. That might require a leap into the unknown — a historic revision of the international hierarchy of power — that so far, the United States has been unwilling or unable to take.
C. Raja Mohan
Foreign Policy | November 4, 2010
China Conducts a Massive Live-Fire Naval Drill Involving 100 Ships in South China Sea
China’s Marine Corps held major naval exercises on Tuesday in the South China Sea, state-run media reported on Wednesday, massing 1,800 troops and more than 100 ships, submarines and aircraft for a live-fire display of the nation’s growing military power.
The waters have been the scene of increased tensions between China and its neighbors this year over competing claims to islands and seabed mineral rights. But one prominent Chinese military analyst called the war games a routine annual event that was unrelated to those claims or recent American moves to shore up diplomatic ties with nations in the region.
The exercises, code-named Jiaolong 2010, were viewed by 200 military students from 40 nations who discussed the maneuvers with Chinese commanding officers, the Communist Party newspaper Global Times reported.
The newspaper quoted an unnamed officer as saying that the exercises were staged to showcase the marines, part of the People’s Liberation Army, and to gain advice from other nations’ militaries. It also quoted one military analyst, Li Jie, as saying that the maneuvers were staged in part because unnamed nations had intervened in the sea in recent years, “so it’s time to oppose these intervention with power politics.”
Chinese military officials accused the Pentagon of threatening China this summer after the United States announced plans to move an aircraft carrier into the Yellow Sea, not 400 miles from Beijing, for joint exercises with South Korea. In a conciliatory gesture, the Navy moved the exercises to the Sea of Japan.
But Chinese acrimony — which had flared early in the year when the United States announced a $6.7 billion deal to sell weapons to Taiwan — was only heightened by an American offer to mediate the territorial disputes over islands in the region. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who made the initial offer, repeated it last week during a stop in Hanoi, rejecting Chinese arguments that Washington was interfering in its diplomatic affairs.
A former submarine officer who is now a leading military analyst on state television, Song Xiaojun, insisted that the Chinese exercises should be taken at face value. “It’s an ordinary exercise,” he said, driven in part by the military’s need to test its rapidly growing arsenal of ships, aircraft and weapons.
“It’s better not to take this as a kind of opposition between different parties,” he said. “It’s not like we’re talking about World War I or World War II, when countries were busy building vessels and competing. Those days are gone.”
David Yang contributed research.
The New York Times | November 3, 2010
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