India's top guns head for the
US By Siddharth Srivastava
NEW DELHI - A 200-strong contingent of personnel
of the Indian Air Force (IAF) is at the moment headed
for Alaska, United States, in what is going to be the
first-ever joint Indo-US air exercise on American soil.
Amid all the backslapping and camaraderie that has
become a feature of Indo-US military exercises that are
a regular occurrence in India now, there is a much
broader game plan. While the IAF explores uncharted
areas, the occasion is also a milestone in longer-term
US intentions to reach out to potential military allies
outside Europe and the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization (NATO), and in the current context,
possible deployment of troops to Iraq.
The
facts and firsts Top gun Indian pilots, young
flight lieutenants, airmen and assorted crew took off
for their 19,750 kilometer journey to Alaska from air
force base Ambala, in the state of Haryana on Tuesday
morning in six Jaguar strike aircraft, two IL-76s
transport aircraft and two IL-78 tankers. They are to
participate in the annual multinational air exercises
code-named Operation Cooperative Cope Thunder that take
place in Alaska with allies such as the United Kingdom,
Germany, Japan, Canada and South Korea. This is the
first time that India has been invited to a US air
exercise, making it the first-ever foray of IAF planes
outside Indian territory for such an event.
It
is also the farthest the IAF has ever flown; and the
first time the giant IL-78s tankers are being exposed in
the West. The air convoy will make the passage in
stages, stopping in Qatar, Egypt, Italy, and Portugal,
before making the trans-Atlantic flight with a layover
in the Azores Islands. The group will enter Canada on
July 2 and reach Alaska on July 7 for exercises that are
slated to begin on July 15.
In a statement an
IAF spokesperson said, "The IAF has never been on such a
journey and we just want to be careful getting our
planes and equipment across safely. This is a big honor
and a big debut for us." The Alaska trip comes in the
wake of high praise that has been showered by the US Air
Force (USAF) on the IAF, which participated in joint
exercises in Gwalior this February. The IAF threw open
its top-of-the-line fighter planes, including the
Sukhois and Mirages, at the USAF in Gwalior and Jaguars
that are of relatively older vintage.
While the
Indian government has sought to downplay any larger
message in the Alaska exercise, observers here see the
first-ever invitation by the USAF as an attempt to
expand its sphere of influence, given the current
imbroglio over Iraq. While there is no gainsaying the
fact that the exchanges will go a long way in informing
India about latest technologies, as well as a first-hand
knowledge of F-16 fighter planes that form the main
arsenal of Pakistan, analysts also warn that India must
guard against a new American strategy to take NATO
beyond the confines of Europe, where ties between
Washington and some of its allies are not on the best of
terms over Iraq.
One comment reads: "Expanding
NATO with new members outside Europe, while diluting its
'North Atlantic' charter, is evidently aimed at
enhancing American influence at the expense of its
European allies. As it is, the US has succeeded in
getting NATO into Afghanistan, the first time the
55-[member] organization has taken up duties outside
Europe. Next step: Iraq. This is where India could come
in handy. Major NATO countries of Europe are opposed to
its deployment in Iraq, but Japan has already chipped in
with troops. An expanded NATO could deploy more easily
in Iraq. There is also talk of bringing in several
central Asian and Arab countries into the NATO fold."
The situation in Iraq is in flux with an interim
Iraqi government being formed under United Nations
auspices, though there is still a way to go before any
figment of normalcy returns in the country. That India
is under continued pressure from the US to supply troops
is borne out by the fact that Foreign Minister Natwar
Singh, immediately after a meeting with US Secretary of
State Collin Powell earlier this month, said that India
would re-look and discuss the issue in the changed
circumstance of a UN resolution. Singh's statement
caused a furor among political parties in India. The
very next day he issued another statement that a
re-think in no way changes India's current stance.
Another comment says, "For India, the larger
issues are tricky. It does not want to play itself into
blocs. At the same time, engagement with alliances as
far apart as NATO and ASEAN [Association of Southeast
Asian Nations] is inviting, and flattering to its
geostrategic ambitions. In the past, New Delhi has been
scathing about NATO's expanding role outside Europe. It
wasn't too long back that it accused the organization of
an increasing tendency to "usurp the power and function
of the UN Security Council", and said its propensity to
extend its areas of operation "is a source of concern to
all countries, big and small".
Indeed, officials
here say that India is more than likely to bide its time
and study the situation till the November elections are
over in the US and any decision concerning the two
countries will strictly remain on pragmatic grounds of
cost and benefit. However, observers also aver that
given the superpower status of the US, it would be
useful for India to weigh its decisions properly, given
that the US is seeking to draw India into a wider bloc
of nations.
At the same time, India will have to
be careful not to get caught in the tricky "good versus
evil" definition that is driving the army of
neo-conservatives that crowd President George W Bush's
inner circle. Geostrategic advantages apart, the
political cost of failure on this front could be
immense. As the thinking here is, will a Madrid-style
terror attack, with its subsequent political fallout,
happen in the US? Till then, India will be grabbing any
opportunity that comes its way, such as military
exercises, where no body bags are involved.
Siddharth Srivastava is a New
Delhi-based journalist
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