US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton hoped to seal a defense pact boosting US arms sales to India in talks yesterday that should also see agreement on the location of two US nuclear reactors.
On the business end of her five-day visit to India, Clinton met Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and was to meet later with Foreign Minister S.M. Krishna for talks aimed at deepening strategic US ties with an emerging player on the world stage.
Washington is especially hopeful of sealing a key accord on “end-use monitoring” that would provide safeguards for the sale of highly sophisticated US weaponry to India.
The agreement would be welcomed by Lockheed Martin Corp and Boeing Co who are both competing with Russian, French and Swedish companies for a massive US$12 billion tender to provide 126 jets to the Indian Air Force.
Yesterday’s talks were also expected to see India announce the proposed sites for the building of two multi-billion dollar US nuclear power plants — the fruit of a landmark civilian nuclear deal India sealed with former US president George W. Bush last year.
“We’re very hopeful the Indians make the announcement on Monday,” one US official said on condition of anonymity.
Indian press reports have suggested the chosen sites are in the Indian states of Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh.
Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs Robert Blake said last week that the deal was a “major opportunity for American companies, and opens up as much as US$10 billion worth of exports to India.”
The Wall Street Journal, quoting people familiar with the issue, said the announcement probably will not lead to immediate contracts for firms like GE-Hitachi and Westinghouse Electric Co to begin building plants.
In October, then secretary of state Condoleezza Rice and her Indian counterpart, Pranab Mukherjee, signed a pact to open up sales of civilian nuclear technology to India for the first time in three decades.
The deal offers India access to US technology and cheap atomic energy in return for allowing UN inspections of some of its civilian nuclear facilities — but not military nuclear sites.
‘LAGGING BEHIND’: The NATO secretary-general called on democratic allies to be ‘clear-eyed’ about Beijing’s military buildup, urging them to boost military spending NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte mentioning China’s bullying of Taiwan and its ambition to reshape the global order has significance during a time when authoritarian states are continuously increasing their aggression, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday. In a speech at the Carnegie Europe think tank in Brussels on Thursday, Rutte said Beijing is bullying Taiwan and would start to “nibble” at Taiwan if Russia benefits from a post-invasion peace deal with Ukraine. He called on democratic allies to boost defense investments and also urged NATO members to increase defense spending in the face of growing military threats from Russia
PEACEFUL RESOLUTION: A statement issued following a meeting between Australia and Britain reiterated support for Taiwan and opposition to change in the Taiwan Strait Canada should support the peaceful resolution of Taiwan’s destiny according to the will of Taiwanese, Canadian lawmakers said in a resolution marking the second anniversary of that nation’s Indo-Pacific strategy on Monday. The Canadian House of Commons committee on Canada-Chinese relations made the comment as part of 34 recommendations for the new edition of the strategy, adding that Ottawa should back Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organizations. Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy, first published in October 2022, emphasized that the region’s security, trade, human rights, democracy and environmental protection would play a crucial role in shaping Canada’s future. The strategy called for Canada to deepen
GEARING UP: An invasion would be difficult and would strain China’s forces, but it has conducted large-scale training supporting an invasion scenario, the report said China increased its military pressure on Taiwan last year and took other steps in preparation for a potential invasion, an annual report published by the US Department of Defense on Wednesday showed. “Throughout 2023, Beijing continued to erode longstanding norms in and around Taiwan by employing a range of pressure tactics against Taiwan,” the report said, which is titled “Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China (PRC) 2024.” The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) “is preparing for a contingency to unify Taiwan with the PRC by force, if perceived as necessary by Beijing, while simultaneously deterring, delaying or denying
LEAP FORWARD: The new tanks are ‘decades more advanced than’ the army’s current fleet and would enable it to compete with China’s tanks, a source said A shipment of 38 US-made M1A2T Abrams tanks — part of a military procurement package from the US — arrived at the Port of Taipei early yesterday. The vehicles are the first batch of 108 tanks and other items that then-US president Donald Trump announced for Taiwan in 2019. The Ministry of National Defense at the time allocated NT$40.5 billion (US$1.25 billion) for the purchase. To accommodate the arrival of the tanks, the port suspended the use of all terminals and storage area machinery from 6pm last night until 7am this morning. The tanks are expected to be deployed at the army’s training
RSS