Asia Pacific

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Article taster from IHS Jane’s Defence Weekly 13 June 2012 issue.

Panetta pushes for closer ties with New Delhi - By Rahul Bedi

The United States plans to significantly expand strategic and military ties with India, which US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta described as a “linchpin” of its revised Asia Pacific policy during a visit to New Delhi on 6 June.

"India is at the crossroads of Asia, at the crossroads of the new global economy and at the crossroads of regional security. We will stand with India at those crossroads,” Panetta said at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses on his first visit to India as defence secretary.

“Defence co-operation with India is a linchpin in this strategy,” added Panetta, who said this would be buttressed by both sides cutting through “bureaucratic red tape” to initiate greater military commerce, joint defence research and weapons development and expanded military exercises, he said.

Panetta added that he had asked “[Deputy Secretary of Defense] Ash Carter to lead an effort at the Pentagon to engage with Indian leaders on a new initiative to streamline our bureaucratic processes and make our defence trade more simple, more responsive and more effective”.

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