US: Looking at India as provider of security in Indian Ocean

Lalit K Jha

Washington, May 30 (PTI) Describing India as one of the
emerging power centres, the US has said it is looking at the
country to be a "partner" and a "provider of security" in the
"Indian Ocean and beyond" in the coming years.

"In the coming years, we look to India to be a partner
and net provider of security in the Indian Ocean and beyond,"
US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said in a speech at the
International Institute for Strategic Studies in Singapore.

Identifying India as one of the emerging power centres,
Gates said: "When it comes to India, we have seen a watershed
in our relations -- cooperation that would have been
unthinkable in the recent past." Transcripts of his speech
were made available by the Department of Defence here.

"As Admiral Keating, commander of United States Pacific
Command, recently wrote, it is a 'genuine convergence of
national interests'," Gates said.

During his speech, Gates also praised India's positivr
ole in development of Afghanistan post-Taliban.

The Defence Secretary said the strategic landscape of
Asia continues to evolve as new and re-emerging centres of
power -- from China and Russia, to India and Indonesia --
combined with other shifts, give impetus to the search for a
new security architecture in the region. PTI