US defence secretary Robert Gates likely to visit India “early 2008”

New Delhi: US defence secretary, Robert M. Gates, may very likely visit India "early in 2008", once Indian defence minister AK Antony is free from a spate of engagements that ties him up for the month of January, a visiting American official has been quoted as saying after a select briefing with the media here. According to the official, bilateral, regional and global issues are likely to figure prominently in the meeting.
 
"Secretary Gates appreciates the importance of the relationship with India. We are looking for a suitable time for the visit early in 2008," the official was quoted as saying at a select media interaction here. He was speaking on condition of anonymity.

He pointed out that the earliest the visit can happen is February as Indian defence minister AK Antony's engagements are "fully booked till end-January," an Indian official said.

If the visit should materialise, it will be the first visit by a US defence secretary since June 2002, when Donald Rumsfeld came calling in the wake of intense tensions between India and Pakistan after the December 2001 terror attack on the Indian parliament. Robert Gates assumed office in December 2006 succeeding Rumsfeld to the post.

"Our relations with India are very important," the US official said, adding: "It is important for our officials to meet each other to understand our respective perspectives."

India-US military ties have been growing steadily leaving the bad memories of the sanctions imposed by the US imposed on India in the wake of the 1998 Pokhran nuclear test behind them.

The armed forces of the two countries have been engaged in a series of war games over a fairly long period of time, the most recent being the Malabar naval exercise in September, the largest such to be held in the Bay of Bengal. While two carriers from the US Navy participated in the exercise, the Indian Navy also sent in a carrier battle group as its representation.

Apart from India and the US, the exercise had the participation of the Australian, Japanese and Singaporean navies.

In 2008, the Indian Air Force (IAF) is set to participate in the prestigious Red Flag war games conducted by the US Air Force (USAF) at Nevada's Nellis air base.

Apart from the INS Jalashva (ex-USS Trenton), which has provided the Indian Navy with a strategic heavy lift capability, the US has also offered India six C-130J Super Hercules heavy lift aircraft under its Foreign Military Sales programme.

US aerospace majors Lockheed Martin and Boeing, along with an array of US defence majors, are lining up for a large number of defence contracts expected to be issued by India as it moves decisively to shore up, and modernise, its defence forces given the multiple nature of threats faced by it in the region.