Dean's World

Good news about our foreign policy

Mary Madigan

The US and India have signed a major defense pact:

Under the NFDR, Washington has offered high-tech cooperation, expanded economic ties, and energy cooperation. It will also step up a strategic dialogue with India to boost missile defense and other security initiatives, launch a "defense procurement and production group," and work to cooperate on military "research, development, testing and evaluation." Given India's broken military procurement system, the know-how transfer will be every bit as valuable as the technology transfer - maybe more so.
And the agreement doesn't stop there...

Joe Katzman at Winds of Change has more

Posted by Mary Madigan | Permalink | Technorati Trackbacks

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Ken McCracken (mail) (www):

How natural that we would cultivate India as a counterweight to China's influence.

We are siding with a genuine democracy too, and one that will have a larger population than China in twenty years.

I say, bravo.

6.30.2005 4:33pm

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Scott Kirwin (mail) (www):

As one who has been wrongly accused of being a bigot against India, I'm happy to see it too.

6.30.2005 4:48pm

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Dean Esmay:

What will be fascinating will be to watch Pakistan's reaction over time.

My own hope is that Pakistan slowly becomes more and more democratic over time. I see signs of it--the fact that we more or less forced them to take a side between us and the religious lunatics (Al Qaeda, Taliban, et. al.) seems to have made them unhappy but seems also to be paying off.

I hope so anyway. It would be nice to think that one day India and Pakistan will be like the U.S. and Canada.

6.30.2005 5:09pm

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Ted Armstrong (mail):

I am not hopeful about Pakistan. Should Masharif get assassinated, I fear what the country would turn into.

6.30.2005 5:51pm

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Arnold Harris (mail):

India also has a diplomatic deal going with China. If the US bugs out on Iraq, India will drop its US connection faster than anyone can say "Italy 1943".

All things considered, diplomacy is sort of like collecting and trading the little yellow cards in "Monopoly" that enable you to get out of jail free. But that's about all.

Arnold Harris
Mount Horeb WI

6.30.2005 8:48pm

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Mark at Urthshu (www):

Not only China, but Iran is affected by this. The tradtional invasion routes into or out of Iran are via India.

6.30.2005 11:57pm

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Mark at Urthshu (www):

Oh, and Pakistan. D'oh!

6.30.2005 11:58pm

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maryatexitzero (mail):

I hope so anyway. It would be nice to think that one day India and Pakistan will be like the U.S. and Canada

Well, actually, I was hoping they'd get along :-)

India is with the good guys as far as the war on terror is concerned, they're a democracy, they're pro-capitalist and they know, maybe better than we do, how to deal with Pakistan. China is the most populous nation, but India is #2 and we're #3.

The last time I checked, they were also making friendly overtures to Israel. Our diplomats appear to be doing something right.

7.1.2005 12:22am

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Steven Malcolm Anderson (www):

I'm pleased with this. Should have been done long ago. One of the biggest blunders we ever made in foreign policy was throwing away India to the Soviets and then siding with Pakistan and Communist China against India. For one thing, India, with her teeming population, could obviously field a big army for us should we need it.

7.1.2005 11:35am

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Ted Armstrong (mail):

The size of an army is not as important as it once was. Training, morale and technology can allow a small force to be victorious over a larger one.

7.1.2005 5:44pm

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Steven Malcolm Anderson (www):

Then we must see to it that India's Kshatriyas (warriors) have that training, morale, and technology.

7.2.2005 12:32pm

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Arnold Harris (mail):

SMA, if you are a lover of good DVD/videotape films, go rent "Mission Kashmir". It will give you a look at the Indian army in the struggles against islamic extremism in Kashmire.

Warning: Like a lot of "Bollywood" productions, it is much a musicalized love story as it is a drama and action film. But the story, the filmography and all other elements present a setting of exotic beauty seen by few American eyes.

Arnold Harris
Mount Horeb WI

7.2.2005 7:14pm