India Leading Relief Drive, says Mulford (dispels rivalry but MORE)

[Gloria]

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/subcontinent/2005/January/subcontinent_January138.xml§ion=subcontinent&col=

India leading relief drive, says Mulford
(IANS)

5 January 2005


NEW DELHI — The US yesterday sought to dispel any impression that it was a diplomatic rival of India in the South Asia region, asserting that New Delhi was taking the leadership role in relief efforts in tsunami-hit neighbours such as Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

US Ambassador David Mulford asserted at a news conference: "There is a very significant operational cooperation going on between India and the US. We are not at liberty to elaborate but it is being conducted and being deepened as we speak."

He said the core group comprising the US, India, Japan and Australia, set up to handle aid to tsunami victims, would dissemble "very soon".

"The (relief) operation in Sri Lanka and the Maldives is being done under the leadership of the Indian Navy, which has taken a leadership position there as in its own country," Mulford told reporters. "The US is providing helpful cooperation. We came second in terms of timing, so that is how we play the game."

The remarks come in the wake of India's reported displeasure at the US navy operations in Sri Lanka, one of the worst hit by the Dec 26 quake-triggered waves that have claimed some 150,000 lives in South and Southeast Asia. Mulford said Indian and US naval operations were being taken up jointly and in cooperation. He recounted a sequence of preceding events that included a conversation with deceased National Security Advisor J.N. Dixit. Dixit, said the US ambassador, "couldn't agree more" when the idea of a joint naval exercise in tsunami relief provision was suggested to him.

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This is the same Mulford who is bypassing channels in India to get US diplomatic and military personnel into certain regions of India...from the new World Media Watch....

3//Asia Times Online, Hong Kong Jan. 4, 2005

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/GA05Df01.html



US ‘SPYING’ RAISES INDIAN HACKLES



By Sultan Shahin

NEW DELHI - India's defense establishment is sending distress signals to sections of the country's media over what it considers inordinate United States interest in the affairs of India's sensitive, insurgency-infested northeast. Military officials are deeply unhappy over the ever-growing access US diplomats and military personnel are getting to disturbed areas in the region.

An Asia Times Online investigation has revealed that the disquiet is almost a decade old, though it has grown exponentially since US ambassador to India Robert Mulford wrote to the chief ministers of Assam and Nagaland directly offering help in counter-insurgency operations in the wake of terrorist violence in October, 2004. He did not bother to go through the proper channels; that is, through the ministry of external affairs. This raised a lot of questions and controversies in the media; the central government, too, was not happy about it. But the matter rests there, and no further explanations have emerged as to why the US ambassador chose to go over the heads of the central government.



(SNIP)



But why should India be afraid of US military or diplomatic personnel visiting the northeast? Insisting on anonymity, a former brigadier who is a member of several expert committees advising the government at various levels explained the issue to Asia Times Online: "India is not an ally of the US, despite all the talk of India and the US being natural allies and so on. Also, we are making nukes, while the US is spending at least a couple of billion dollars annually in countering nuclear proliferation. They clearly don't like India being or remaining a nuclear power. This means we have essentially an adversarial relationship. Both countries may be sincere in seeking to better ties at various levels; yet this essential fact remains and we have to always keep this in mind. A large portion of the billions invested in counter-proliferation since 1995 has been earmarked for India."

But what could visiting US personnel do that would amount to a breach of Indian security? He explained further: "They could leave behind unmanned sensors in strategic locations. They need to find out locations of our various military installations. And yes, they do need to physically verify on the ground what they see from their satellites. There is no question that these people have been mapping these areas. Visits and close interaction with military personnel gives them the opportunity for subversion of our personnel. They are always on the lookout for human intelligence; after all there is a limit to how far electronic intelligence can go. They have to try and work out our nuclear doctrine. They need to get to know where our raw materials are coming from and where our bombs are being made. They need to know our deployment areas. There are sensitive locations called red areas that they should not see. We draw inner lines where even Indian citizens would not be allowed; but if Americans are left alone in the nearby areas, and given the slavish mentality of many Indians towards the white complexion of our former colonial masters, who knows where they might reach."

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