New Delhi: The US wants stronger military and strategic relationship with India, but it shall never abandon Pakistan, says an American expert on South Asia.
"The US cannot and will not jettison Pakistan, nor is it in India's interest that America do so," says John H Gill, an internationally recognized military historian.
"Indeed, both the US and India have a common interest in Pakistan's stability, prosperity, moderation and progress toward democracy. A forward looking US-India dialogue on Pakistan could make a major contribution in setting Pakistan on a more hopeful trajectory."
He makes the comments in "US-Indian Strategic Cooperation into the 21st Century", a book that will be released here Friday at the Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies.
Gill, a retired US Army South Asia Foreign Area Officer, says Washington and New Delhi having overcome many of the inhibitions associated with the Cold War, "currently enjoy an unprecedented level of military-to-military cooperation.
"Indeed, military ties have developed into one of the most important and robust aspects of the US-India bilateral relationship."
He says that since 9/11, the military relationship has expanded rapidly to include numerous high-level visits, exercises, training exchanges and a nascent programme of military sales, calling much of it "truly unprecedented".
According to Gill, the US military would benefit from increased dialogue with New Delhi on security issues in Southeast Asia and the Middle East.
Gill says the US can learn how India successfully built up a multi-ethnic army to see if the experiment can be replicated in Afghanistan.
"The US could benefit from the Indian experience of forming and maintaining an effective multi-ethnic army from its heterogeneous population.
"The Indian example will not transfer directly but could inform American efforts to create new armies in complex, multi-ethnic societies such as Afghanistan."
Gill pleads that discussion of China's interests and goals should not suggest that the US and India were ganging up against Beijing.
"India would reject such an approach and it would run counter to American interests vis-à-vis China on the larger Asian scene."
From an American perspective, he says, the US armed forces have much to gain from deepened and expanded relations with their Indian counterparts.
Also, improved military-to-military interaction directly supports US national interests in India, in South Asia, and more broadly, from the Middle East through Asia and across the globe.
It is high time, Gill says, that the two countries determined how they can sustain productive growth in their military interactions and cope with the issues these ties may lead to.
But he warns that the India-US relationship, thanks to the Cold War legacy, remains hampered by pernicious obstacles, vulnerable to shocks and susceptible to erosion if taken for granted.
"Without appropriate attention, this promising relationship could devolve into irrelevance or stagnation, frustrating rather than bolstering a burgeoning US-India strategic partnership."
At the same time, he advocates caution. "Exaggerated hopes could lead to exaggerated disappointments that would serve neither Washington's nor New Delhi's interests."
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