‘Malabar’ exercise not against China, says envoy

Observing that the U.S. was keen on working with India on defence projects, the U.S. Ambassador to India, Richard R. Verma, on Sunday said that a team, Aircraft-Carrier Technology Working Group, from India had visited the U.S. last month as part of the Defence Technology and Trade Initiative.

“We are hoping that the team meets again in the next few months. What I was suggesting is that as this team meets and begins to talk not only about operations but also sharing of technology… I think it is possible to build the next aircraft carrier together — the U.S. and India,” Mr. Verma said.

Even as he described the Indian, U.S. and Japan maritime forces as “natural naval partners,” the American envoy said that the ‘Malabar’ exercise, which was under way in the Bay of Bengal was “not about trying to create distance between them and China.

Replying to a query during a press conference, Mr. Verma said, “So this is really not about trying to create distance between ourselves and China, but all three navies, Japan, India and the U.S., as I said are aligned in a way to share common values. So it is only natural that we will be cooperating like this.”

On whether China can be expected to join the joint exercise, he said, “But this is an exercise truly about these three countries [India, the U.S. and Japan] in increasing their capacities, their skills and ability to work together.”

However, he said the U.S. has been having “lot of military to military contacts” with China and recalled China’s participation in a large naval exercise in Hawaii organised by the U.S. Navy’s Pacific Command.

Earlier in the day, the Ambassador visited the nuclear-powered aircraft-carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt to witness the ‘Malabar’ exercise, where he met the Japanese Ambassador to India Takeshi Yagi, Vice Admiral R.K. Pattanaik from the Indian Navy and Defence Ministry’s principal spokesperson Sitanshu Kar among others.

Pakistan’s comment

When asked about the comments of Pakistan’s National Security Adviser Sartaj Aziz, who reportedly said that U.S.-India collaboration in the conventional strategic arms area has increased to become a threat to the integrity of the region, Mr. Verma said the Indian-U.S. defence relationship stood on its own.

“The US-Indian defence relationship stands on its own and I think when you think about our shared values, as I mentioned, the role of war, constitutional democracies, peaceful resolution of disputes and that the real impact of alternations coming together from a strategic point of view and economic point of view, political point of view, is actually to increase peace and stability and prosperity,” he said.

Recalling U.S. Vice-President Joe Biden’s statement some years ago that if the U.S. and India are the closest friends and partners, the world would be a safer place, the U.S. Ambassador to India said that was the “heart of this relationship.”