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Carter arrives in India to advance defense ties

Iran Press TV

Sun Apr 10, 2016 9:49AM

US Defense Secretary Ash Carter has begun a three-day visit to India to strengthen a relatively new defense relationship with the country.

Carter, who arrived in India on Sunday, has said that Washington has a "whole global agenda" with New Delhi.

"There's no question about where the United States-India relationship is going," Carter said at a talk at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York on Friday. "We can control and influence the pace, and I want to do that."

Carter has placed a great importance on improving defense relations with India which the US sees as a counterweight to the increasing power of China.

India, however, has been wary of having very close relations with any country, even the United States.

"India's very reluctant to be seen as too close to the United States, but the Pentagon is very bullish on this relationship," said Shane Mason, a research associate at the Stimson Center in Washington.

In March, commander of US Pacific Command Admiral Harry Harris said the US was willing to expand the maritime exercises it held with India yearly into joint operations across the Asia-Pacific.

However, India has said that there were no such plans as it has never conducted any joint patrols with any country.

"The Indians are being careful because it's their neighborhood," said a US congressional source familiar with US-India military negotiations. "It's been a long-standing Indian policy to deal with China on a bilateral basis."

On Friday, Carter said, "Recently not all the news out of the Asia-Pacific has been positive: indeed, in the South China Sea, China's actions – in particular – are raising regional tensions."

"That's why countries across the Asia-Pacific are voicing concern with militarization, and especially – over the last year – with China's actions, which stand out in size and scope… they're voicing those concerns publicly and privately, at the highest levels, in regional meetings and global fora," he added.

The South China Sea has become a source of tension between China, the US, and some regional countries that are seeking control of trade routes and mineral deposits.