US always has its interests and is not taken in by any ideals ot sentiments.Any body is disposable once its objectives are met.
India is being courted to balance China, fight terrorism in Afghanistan and of course for its vast market and cheap labor force.
India should be wary of US while accepting its help.
Deep within, the US is definitely worried over the emerging clout of India, next only to China might be calculating to deal with India after taking care of China and thankfully it is not going to happen as China is too wily a customer unlike India.
Panetta’s remark is a Freudian slip and has to be taken seriously by the policy makers.
Press Trust of India
WASHINGTON, 18 NOV: In a major goof-up, new US defence secretary Mr Leon Panetta clubbed India and China, describing them as emerging “threats”, but his office quickly retracted the remarks, saying Washington strongly values close ties with New Delhi.
Mr Panetta put his foot in the mouth as he departed from prepared text during a speech at a shipyard in Connecticut, where he said, “we face the threats from rising powers ~ China, India, others ~ that we have to always be aware of and try to make sure that we always have sufficient force protection out there in the Pacific to make sure they know we’re never going anywhere.”
The defence secretary’s comments came at an awkward moment just when President Barack Obama met Prime Minister Mr Manmohan Singh and the two leaders agreed to boost ties not only bilaterally but at multilateral level also.
The Pentagon chief, who spoke to the workers at the shipyard which builds nuclear attack submarines, described the array of threats to the USA as coming from Iran, North Korea and cyber attacks.
But the former CIA chief, who recently publicly said that he was looking forward to visit India, strayed from the known US foreign policy stand by adding China and India to the list of countries posing security dangers that USA would need to make clear to these powers.
However, Pentagon Press secretary Mr George Little was quick to clarify Mr Panetta’s remarks, saying the USA strongly values a close relationship with India and sees it a nation of increasing prominence and power.
“The secretary strongly values a close military relationship with India, which he sees as a nation of increasing prominence and power. He doesn’t view India as a threat,” Mr Little said.
“The USA and India work together on a regular basis to find ways of cooperating around common security interests. We’re committed to pursuing even stronger cooperation in the future,” Mr Little said in a statement after Mr Panetta’s speech.
Pentagon spokesman Navy Capt. John Kirby said it would be incorrect to draw a conclusion from Mr Panetta’s speech that the USA sees India and China as a threat. “Any suggestion that he (Panetta) was implying that he considered India and China military threats is false. The secretary believes it is important to improve our military relationships with both countries,” he said. “He was referring instead to the challenges these rising powers face within themselves, challenges that we share with them as we try to forge better relationships going forward in a very turbulent, dynamic security environment,” Capt. Kirby said.
In his speech, Mr Panetta said in 10 years of war against terrorism, the USA has weakened Al Qaida and the Taliban. “We weakened the Taliban. We’ve had the lowest violence levels in Afghanistan in five years. We’re beginning to secure key areas of that country. We’re developing an Afghan army, an Afghan police. We are moving in the right direction.
“A lot of work to be done, but hopefully by the end of 2014 we’ll be able to again have an Afghanistan that can govern and secure itself,” he said.
http://www.thestatesman.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=390437&catid=35
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