By IANS
New Delhi : The US military's new
focus on the Asia-Pacific region, as enunciated by Defence Secretary Leon
Panetta, is welcome and will aid in India's efforts to contain China, security
experts say, adding that this country's navy should develop the capacity to
operate in areas as far as the Pacific Ocean.
"This was in the making for
a long time. After the collapse of the Warsaw Pact, the Atlantic
is a dead duck and with the power centre shifting from the west to the east,
the Asia-Pacific region is going to be the cockpit of power for the next 50
years," former Indian Navy chief Admiral Arun Prakash told IANS.
"So, how should India react?
Each country should react if its sovereignty and security is impinged. This is not
so in this case. Therefore, we should welcome it. We are worried about the rise
of China.
This will help us in the containment process in the long run," Adm.
Prakash, who is a member of the National Security Advisory Board, added.
Speaking in New
Delhi Wednesday, Panetta detailed the US' "rebalancing" itself
toward the Asia-Pacific region.
"In particular, we will
expand our military partnerships and our presence in the arc extending from the
Western Pacific and East Asia into the Indian Ocean region and South
Asia," he said, adding that India would be a "lynchpin"
in implementing this strategy.
In practical terms that means
that the US would be moving
60 percent of its military assets - principally warships, aircraft and troops -
to the Asia-Pacific-Indian
Ocean region.
This would enable the US
"confront more than one enemy at the same time. Let's say something
happens in North Korea and
simultaneously in the Strait of Hormuz. We
have to be prepared to confront both," Panetta said.
Commodore (retd) C. Uday Bhaskar,
advisor to the South Asia Monitor portal, echoed Adm. Prakash's views.
"If you have the capacity,
then you operate in a certain area. We should acquire the capacity to operate
in the Pacific Ocean. One shouldn't be
surprised about the plans the US
and China have for the Indian Ocean. Surprise would go against the rhythm of
what world powers do," said Bhaskar, a former director of the National
Maritime Foundation.
"Instead of saying 'Don't
come here', you should show your ability to go outside your domain,"
Bhaskar added.
The Indian Navy has for long
desired to transform itself into a blue water force. However, in spite of being
the only navy in the region stretching from Israel in the west to Japan and
China in the east to operate an aircraft carrier - with two more on the way -
and a plethora of submarines - both nuclear and conventional - destroyers,
frigates, corvettes and other vessels, it essentially remains a coastal force.
However, the Indian Navy does participate
in bilateral and multilateral exercises as far away as off Japan - and once in the Atlantic.
Its ships also regularly drop anchor at foreign ports on goodwill visits.
Gulshan Luthra, editor of India
Strategic defence journal, had another take on the issue, saying the US move would make India unhappy but there was little
this country could do about it.
"It's bound to cause
unhappiness in India
but there's little we can do about it," Luthra.
What was now worrisome, he said
were reports that the US was
attempting to acquire berthing facilities in the Bangladesh
port city of Chittagong.
"If that happens, India's
strategic assets would be under constant observation," Luthra addded.
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