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No strings attached to sale of ship: U.S. official

Sandeep Dikshit

Says CAG’s observations will not be a dampener on future sales

— Photo: Rajeev Bhatt

FOR BROADER TIEs: United States Navy Secretary Donald C. Winter with Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Sureesh Mehta during a Guard of Honour at South Block in New Delhi on Friday. — Photo: Rajeev Bhatt

NEW DELHI: United States Navy Secretary Donald Winter on Friday denied that the sale of USS Trenton (now INS Jalashwa) to the Indian Navy was accompanied by a ban on its use for offensive operations.

While maintaining that the sale of the ship was neither unique nor had terms associated with its transfer, he said the U.S. did not limit the use of warships sold to other countries in support of their national defence objectives.

Mr. Winter was speaking to newspersons here on the second day of his visit to India.

“No pre-conditions”

The U.S. had transferred hundreds of ships to other countries and no sale had preconditions on their use, he pointed out.

The Comptroller and Auditor-General of India (CAG), in a recent report, said there were “restrictions on offensive deployment” of the ship and the U.S. was permitted to “conduct an inspection and inventory of all articles transferred under the end-use monitoring clause.”

The report noted that the $ 50-million deal was consummated after a “visual inspection” and with “over-reliance” on information by the U.S. Navy.

Protests in Parliament

These observations triggered protests in Parliament, with the Communist Party of India (Marxist) objecting to such purchases by the armed forces.

Mr. Winter said such observations would not be a dampener on future sales of the U.S. warships to India. He maintained that both sides were considering “many options on the table.”

The U.S. official, however, laid to rest recurring speculations that the U.S. might sell aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk to India. “We found that the condition of the ship was such that it was very prohibitive to maintain. This [the impending decommissioning] would be the end of the Kitty Hawk’s useful life.”

New Delhi and Washington had discussed the “desirability” of signing the Logistics Sharing Arrangement (LSA), which would allow their militaries freer access to each other’s facilities.

“Simple common facilities will be beneficial to both,” he said.

Sharing of information

In meetings with top Indian Navy officials, including Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Sureesh Mehta, Mr. Winter talked about the need for better exchange of information on movement of ships.

He lauded India for “taking up the responsibility to ensure security in this part of the world.”

Visits dockyard

Mr. Winter visited the naval dockyard in Mumbai and evinced interest in the transfer of technology by France while building conventional submarines.

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