Rumsfeld sees stronger ties with India: China’s course termed uncertain
SINGAPORE, June 3: US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said on Friday he expects US military ties with India to strengthen over the coming years and predicted that China’s influence will decline unless it moves to a freer political system.
“It’s pretty clear where India’s going, and one would anticipate the relationship with India will continue to strengthen as we go through the period ahead,” Mr Rumsfeld said before he arrived here on Friday afternoon.
“With respect to China, it’s not completely clear which way they’re going because of the tension... between the nature of their political system and the nature of their economic system,” he told reporters.
Mr Rumsfeld compared and contrasted the prospects of the two Asian giants as he flew here from Washington to attend an annual international security conference that draws defence ministers from around the region.
In remarks to reporters travelling with him, he would not be drawn on the standoff with North Korea over its nuclear weapons program and alluded only glancingly to a Chinese military buildup that has caused concern in Washington.
But he was expected to air US concerns on both North Korea and China’s military spending in a keynote speech Saturday to the conference organized by the International Institute of Strategic Studies as well as in one-on-one meetings with other defence ministers.
His comments to reporters made clear that the Pentagon is looking to India as an anchor in its security relationships in the region. Mr Rumsfeld recalled that he made the first overtures to India within weeks of becoming defence secretary in 2001.
“We have what I would characterize as an excellent relationship with India. From a military-to-military standpoint it has improved in strength every year over the past four and a half years,” he said.
The military relationship, which has included joint exercises, “has been very much leading the other aspects of the relationship, which is a good thing,” he said.
“We are finding many things to cooperate on,” he said.
Calling India a “major power,” the secretary highlighted its standing as the world’s largest democracy, its “relatively free economic system,” and its educated population.
“With respect to the Peoples Republic of China, it is what it is. It’s a big country, with a fairly rapid growth rate,” he said.
“Its defence budget is growing apace with their economy, and they are a major weapons purchaser in the world, largely from Russia but from other countries as well, and have been deploying a great many ballistic missiles and ships and other military capabilities over a period of years now,” he said.
“The tension will grow as they move through the years,” he said.
“To the extent that the Republic of China leans toward a freer political system they will be a considerably more successful country and a more influential country in the world,” he said.
“To the extent they don’t do that there will be pressures against their economy, they will grow less fast, and they will be a less influential country in the world,” he said.
This is only Mr Rumsfeld’s third trip to Asia during his current tenure as defence minister.
He is scheduled to travel to Thailand on Sunday, and then to Norway early next week for talks before a NATO defence minister’s meeting in Brussels. —AFP
