The Hindu : U.S. for closer military co-op to fight terrorism

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Feb 18, 2002

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U.S. for closer military co-op to fight terrorism
By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, FEB. 17. The Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Richard Myers, has advocated closer bilateral military cooperation to counter terrorism.

Gen. Myers, the highest ranking American military official, arrived here today on a two-day visit. He pointed out that the on-going interaction at the defence plane was ``unprecedented'' and the series of interactions between senior members of the security establishment ``were important in our common goal of defeating terrorism''. Gen. Myers is only the second military official to visit India after Gen. Henry Shelton in July last year.

The core of Gen. Myers' interaction begins tomorrow when he holds talks with the External Affairs Minister, Jaswant Singh, the National Security Adviser, Brajesh Mishra and the Defence Secretary, Yogendra Narain. Gen. Shelton also held talks with the top policy makers last year. Since then, the international scenario has changed drastically. Gen. Shelton had pressed for reactivation of civilian-level cooperation on defence issues while India had expressed its unwillingness unless sanctions were lifted. Today, service personnel are sitting across the table discussing subjects outlined by the reinstated bilateral Defence Policy Group (DPG).

If the focus of Gen. Shelton's visit was to revive military ties with New Delhi, his successor is trying to go beyond military ties to involve the two militaries in developments in the international arena, especially the Indian Ocean, host to energy-rich sea lanes, and the Bay of Bengal where America is keen on a security balance. Both the countries are also want to close old deals, on hold since Pokhran-II.

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