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India's designs on Central
Asia
By Robert McMahon
WASHINGTON - One of India's main strategic
challenges is restoring traditional trade and
cultural ties with Central Asia, according to
Indian Defense Minister Pranab Mukherjee. In a
speech this week in Washington, Mukherjee said the
region poses security concerns to India and
described it as a battleground between Islamic
extremism and moderation, with fundamentalist
groups trying to destabilize secular governments
in the region.
The defense minister said
India - a huge democracy with the world's
second-largest Muslim population - could have a
moderating influence on Central Asia.
"By
nature, India is not inclined to export
ideologies, even ideologies it believes in and
follows. India would rather promote democracy in
the region by precept and example. Freer traffic
between India and Central Asia would be a factor
in favor of moderation and democracy there,"
Mukherjee said.
Mukherjee, who began his
four-day visit to the US on Saturday, made his
comments at a gathering of foreign-policy experts
at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace,
an independent policy institute. His speech
touched on India's strategic goals, including
lessening its energy dependence on foreign
sources, but Pakistan figured as the key issue.
The two countries continue to have sharp
differences over the divided territory of Kashmir.
On the positive side, they continue to observe the
November 2003 ceasefire agreement, and
people-to-people exchanges have recently
intensified.
Mukherjee also said Indian
surveillance shows a reduction in infiltration by
Pakistani militants across the border into
Indian-controlled Kashmir. But he said it is too
early to say the peace process is entrenched.
"The infrastructure for terrorism in
Pakistan and Pakistan-controlled territory
remains. We do not hear of operations like the
ones being conducted by Pakistan, in cooperation
with the US, against the war on terrorism at its
western frontiers, towards its eastern borders
with India," Mukherjee said.
Mukherjee,
who has held high-level government development
posts, said there will only be a vested interest
in peace in India and Pakistan when the countries
resume bilateral trade and transit.
He
said India is also eager to expand ties to
Afghanistan, which it has given hundreds of
millions of dollars in reconstruction aid since
the fall of the Taliban regime. "India could do
much more, if normal relations and trade and
transit through Pakistan could flourish,"
Mukherjee said. "We are concerned about signs of
the resurgence of the Taliban, and the growth in
drug cultivation in, and trafficking from,
Afghanistan."
The defense minister spoke
before the start of two days of meetings with US
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, which
culminated on Tuesday with the signing of a
10-year wide-ranging framework for close
cooperation covering missile defense, the
co-production of military hardware, and sensitive
technology transfers. The framework seeks, among
other things, to enhance capabilities to combat
the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
The US and Indian militaries have
considerably expanded cooperation since the 2001
terrorist attacks against the United States. They
have engaged in numerous joint military exercises.
The United States is also involved in discussions
about the possible sale of weapons systems to
India.
On Tuesday, Rumsfeld described the
military relationship as "excellent". "We have
advanced continuously in the relationship in terms
of meetings and exercises and various other
aspects of it, and I feel very good about it and
very positive about it," he added.
A
statement issued after the signing of the defense
agreement said, "The United States and India have
entered a new era ... We are transforming our
relationship to reflect our common principles and
shared national interests."
US Under
Secretary of State Nicholas Burns held high-level
talks in India last week that focused on building
a strategic partnership in areas such as civilian
nuclear energy, advanced weaponry, and missile
defense. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is
set to visit Washington on July 18 to discuss the
issues further with US President George W Bush.
Copyright (c) 2005, RFE/RL Inc.
Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio
Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW,
Washington DC 20036 |
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