Outgoing US Defense Secretary Ash Carter - 1 views
started by game gautruc on 08 Dec 16
started by game gautruc on 08 Dec 16
started by game gautruc on 08 Dec 16
started by game gautruc on 08 Dec 16
Carter has devoted more personal attention to his Indian counterpart than any other, and that groundwork could prove crucial as the Obama administration prepares to hand over the reins with questions looming about President-elect Donald Trump's commitment to its pivot to Asia and how confrontational he will be with Beijing.
The US-India relationship has been ascendant for many years and intensified under President Barack Obama as his Asian strategy sought to balance the rise of China, but the state of the alliance remains mixed at best. The US only recently made small inroads into the Indian defense markets and historical skepticism within India at the prospect of more robust relations with America persists.
But en route to New Delhi, Carter told reporters, "India and the United States are destined to be strategic partners."
The relationship has "grown by leaps and bounds" since 2008, Carter said, adding that he intended to discuss with his counterpart a "major change" that is "very close to the finish line" regarding the easing of regulations on defense exports to India.
"It permits us to do things with India that have never been possible before" by creating a "presumption of nam lim xanh o dau ban approval for transactions with India," he added.
Carter and his Indian counterpart, Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar, were due to hold their seventh meeting Thursday, and Carter has previously said he has spent more time with him than "any other defense counterpart anywhere in the world."
The two men are said to have a lot in common, both rising to their respective nation's top defense posts while possessing backgrounds in science and engineering.
"They have a very strong personal relationship," a senior defense official told CNN, crediting Carter with being the leading force behind Obama's effort to bolster US-India ties.
"Ash Carter is the champion of this relationship in the administration," the official said.
But some observers of US-India relations noted that the improved bilateral defense relationship predates both Carter and Obama.
"I think the US- India defense relationship has blossomed over the years irrespective of Obama's 'pivot/rebalance to Asia' policy," Bharath Gopalaswamy, director of the South Asia Center at the nam lim xanh quang nam Washington-based Atlantic Council, told CNN.