October 02, 2005
Some up, some down...
This is a time of many changes, and it's fascinating to watch how people react. One of the changes is the apparent decline of nations that were in the top tier when I was young. Germany, France--all of Western Europe really--are moribund, and incapable of doing anything positive on the world stage. At the same time other countries are on the rise.
I would love to be able to peer into the minds of all those who have been complaining that the Bush Administration is "neglecting and alienating our allies." I suspect that a lot of what motivates them is deep fear of change.
What the administration is really doing is cultivating tomorrow's allies, and allowing the no-longer-useful ones to slip into senescence or opposition without pulling us with them.
Number one on the list of new allies is India. Growing in wealth and military power, democratic, inheritor of many Anglosphere values and strengths, positioned perfectly in the midst of the the most important regions of the War on Terror, India is the friend we most need to cultivate
Anupam Nath / AP Photo. U.S. and Indian soldiers play volleyball
during a break from training during a joint exercise at the Indian
military's Counter Insurgency and Jungle Warfare School in
Vairengte, India, on Sunday, 9/25/05
From Army Times Frontline Photos
Times of India:...India's largest-ever naval exercise with any country will kick off on Sunday when Indian and American aircraft carriers, destroyers, guided-missile frigates, fighter and surveillance aircraft undertake combat manoeuvres in the north-west Arabian Sea.The sheer scale of this 10-day Indo-US exercise, "Malabar-05", can be gauged from the fact that it will involve almost 10,000 officers and sailors from the two nations.
"This will be the first time that aircraft carriers and fighters from the two navies will exercise together. It will be our largest exercise with a foreign Navy to build interoperability," said assistant chief of naval staff (information warfare and operations) Rear Admiral D K Joshi...
Posted by John Weidner at October 2, 2005 03:14 PM | TrackBack
India has become an important ally in the Indian Ocean. You can see that in the fact that the Pentigon has allowed American military equipment manufactures to enter into negociations with the Indian Military over new equipment. There are talks in the works over India posibly purchasing F-16 Falcons for front-line units and surplus P-3 Orions to replace India's small fleet of Il-38 May and Tu-142 patrol aircraft.
India has been trying for the past 30 years to build thier own military construction base for self reliance, but they have been only somewhat successful. They have managed to develop thier own aircraft, helicopters,and ships. On the other hand, their requirements far exceed their ability to produce the equipment rapidly. For example, the LCA fighter project has taken more than 10 years to develop, leading India to purchase Su-27s from Russia. They seem to have some of the same problems as the Chinese.
