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India sees no proxy war with any other rising nation

SINGAPORE: India on Saturday pledged to continue to play a responsible role as a rising power, and the United States affirmed that it remained committed to its civil nuclear agreement with New Delhi. The U.S., however, clarified that there was no move to sell an aircraft carrier to India.

Responding to questions during a plenary session of the ongoing Seventh Asia Security Summit here, Minister of State for Defence M.M. Pallam Raju said India was not engaging itself in proxy politics against any other rising power.

Asked by U.S. Senator Joseph Lieberman whether India’s positive ties with the U.S. might be seen by China in a different light, he said: “Whatever bilateral relations we have with other nations should not be construed as ganging up on another nation. We have no such intentions, and whatever role we have played has been with a benign intent of securing the [Asian] region. We will continue to do that.”

As a “responsible nation,” India would cooperate with other major powers “in every meaningful manner, towards the containment of weapons of mass destruction in the region.”

Asked whether it would join the U.S.-led Proliferation Security Initiative, Mr. Raju said: “The PSI is a very good initiative, but we do have other domestic political compulsions. There is some resistance. We are working on that.”

U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates hailed the “very positive advances in the United States-India relationship” as a new dynamic in recent years.

Speaking at the main plenary session, Mr. Gates, asked about the “market rumours” that the U.S. might be selling its Kitty Hawk aircraft carrier to India, said: “I expected it to come up during my visit in India. And, well, [I was] somewhat surprised when it did not. I am aware of no such plans.”

On the nuclear deal with India, he reaffirmed Washington’s commitment to the accord. “It has been the position of the United States to be patient [while] the Indians work through this issue” in the context of their “domestic challenges” in this sensitive domain.

Mr. Lieberman said, “There is broad, not universal, support” at the Capitol for this deal. “The sense of [U.S.] Congress at this moment is not to go forward but to wait. Hopefully, before long [and] within India, there is enough support to accept this agreement, and then Congress will follow, I think, quite quickly.”

The summit, organised by the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies, brings together government leaders and strategic affairs experts.

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