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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Wednesday, February 20, 2002

U.S., India promote military cooperation at Hickam meeting

By B.J. Reyes
Associated Press

U.S. ties with Pakistan in the fight against terrorism should not affect a new spirit of cooperation with the Indian military, a senior Indian Air Force official said yesterday.

In their first formal meetings since U.S. anti-nuclear sanctions were lifted against Indian and Pakistan in October, Air Force officers from the United States and India met at Hickam Air Force Base to explore ways to cooperate.

"We don't see that the U.S. relationship with Pakistan should lead to us losing our connectivity to the U.S. Air Force at all," Air Marshall Satish Govind Inamdar, the Indian vice chief of air staff, said.

Since renewing ties after the Sept. 11 attacks, the United States has provided millions of dollars to Pakistan, India's traditional rival, for logistical support in the Bush administration's declared war on terrorism.

But Inamdar, who is among a handful of senior Indian Air Force leaders in Hawai'i for a weeklong conference aimed at promoting better ties between the two forces, said he welcomes U.S. involvement in the region to rid it of terrorism.

"I'm not saying that this will help India or that it won't help Pakistan — it's going to help the problem (of terrorism)," Inamdar said. "The problem has to be resolved."

The conference at Hickam Air Force Base follows similar meetings this month between the armies and navies of the United States and India.

After decades of estrangement, India is developing close diplomatic and military ties with the United States.

The two nations have agreed to share military intelligence to help tackle terror networks.

"It's about being able to train together, to exercise together and to look at our procedures that we use together," said Gen. William J. Begert, commander of the Pacific Air Forces. "We have a lot that we can learn from them and we hope that we have something to offer the Indian Air Force as well that will improve both of our air forces collectively."

The meetings between the air forces, alternately held on U.S. and Indian soil, last took place in 1997 at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada.

They were discontinued in 1998 after the United States imposed sanctions on India and Pakistan in 1998 over the two countries' series of nuclear missile tests.

Inamdar also echoed sentiments made by the Indian defense minister yesterday that building a military relationship with the United States will not clash with India's decades-old defense ties with Russia.

"Certainly, with the sanctions lifting, that has opened up a whole leap of new avenues and I'm sure the bilateral trade — especially in radars and communications — will improve and improve a great deal," Inamdar said, "I'm very, very hopeful of that."

Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Monday in New Delhi that India intends to buy U.S. surveillance radar — its first major military purchase from the United States.

An Indian Defense Ministry source said the radar would be used in the fight against Islamic militants in the disputed province of Kashmir. Inamdar was noncommittal on how the equipment would be used.

"They're not Kashmir-specific," he said. "They are air space management specific. Air space management is a much larger issue than Kashmir per se."