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U.S. sees India as security partner

U.S. Secretary of Defence Robert Gates

SINGAPORE: The United States will “look to India to be a partner and a net provider of security in the Indian Ocean and beyond” in the coming years.

Such a political preference was outlined by U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates at the eighth annual Asian Security Summit, being held here under the auspices of the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies.

Asked to amplify his remark during a question-answer session after his plenary address, Dr. Gates said: “What we see in India is a great power that has tremendous potential to be a major player in bringing international security and stability to a lot of places.”

As an initial example, he cited India’s current counter-piracy operations off the Horn of Africa.

The U.S., he said, applauded India for the way it “has conducted itself with great sophistication and care over a period of considerable turbulence, including Pakistan’s political crisis last year and in response to the terrorist attacks in Mumbai.”

India’s continuing contribution to the infrastructure development in Afghanistan was also commended, and Pakistan was praised for its anti-Taliban operations near its border with Afghanistan in “recent weeks.”

Asked to predict the status of U.S.-China relations in the next decade, Dr. Gates saw this as “more of a mystery than a secret.”

However, he noted that the U.S. was already “working with China on common challenges.”

On the latest nuclear-weapon test by North Korea, he said: “We will not stand idly by as North Korea builds the capability to wreak destruction on any target in Asia – or on us.”

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