India embraces Russia arms

[bemildred]

Source: LA Times

India signed five deals Friday to purchase more than $7 billion in hardware and expertise from Russia, including an aircraft carrier, a fleet of MIG-29 fighters, defense and space technology and at least 12 civilian nuclear reactors.

On the minds of both parties, analysts said, was a nation not present at the signing. "China will be the ghost in the room," wrote analyst C. Raja Mohan in an opinion piece this week in the Indian Express.

Having a working aircraft carrier -- India's only carrier, the 50-year-old British-built Viraat, rarely leaves port -- should allow India to expand its presence in the Indian Ocean. India has watched China in recent years forge strategic port alliances with Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Myanmar as part of Beijing's South Asian "string of pearls" strategy.

China doesn't have an aircraft carrier, although U.S. intelligence reports suggest it could within five years. Nor is it expected any time soon to base military craft in the Indian Ocean. But Beijing is heavily outspending India on defense and is keen to safeguard its seaborne oil trade with the Middle East, a lifeline for its hyper-charged economy.

Read more: http://www.latimes.com/news/nation-and-world/la-fg-russia-india13-2010mar13,0,7959861.story

[Cartoonist]

1. Endless War

Ok, now I give up hope. What is it about humankind that war is the most exalted of all things? I think we are witnessing the fall of America when I read every day about school closings, teacher firings, fire department layoffs, yet never ending billions for war. China and India are now prepping themselves for the role of superpower both economically and militarily once the fall of the USA is complete. I hear no voice of sanity in any leader of any country.

[Lagomorph]

2. We've acutally encouraged...

...governments around the world to police their own neighborhoods.

If India wants to protect shipping in the Indian Ocean, let them step up to the plate. Why should we have to fight pirates off the coast of Somalia when there are several countries with vast economies in the neighborhood?

Every capitol ship that India builds is another Super Carrier we can call home from the Indian Ocean. If Iran would talk less about closing the Persian Gulf and more about protecting the shipping and ensuring free passage, they'd score some major points with the big powers.

I'd like Taiwan and China come to some agreement on autonomy so we don't feel an obligation to protect Taiwan from an armed invasion. The same goes with the South China Sea, where China wants to claim nearly every island right up to the mainland coast of Vietnam and the Philippines.

Not everything the various militaries do has a "military" objective. They are there to render assistance, monitor communications for distress calls and ecological events, conduct surveys of water and air quality for dangerous emissions...it goes on and on.

The concept of military conquest is becoming more and more absurd. I'd like to see it die out completely, but it hasn't yet. A lot of the world still agrees with Chairman Mao, who is recognized for stating that power comes from the barrel of a gun.

[golfguru]

9. You are correct, the more India does to patrol the seas

the less we have to spend on with borrowed money from China and
leave the debt to our children. Let the world's most populous
democracy get stronger economically and militarily. It is all good for us.

[conspirator]

6. At some point there will be a Global Termonuclear War. It's inevitable nt

[golfguru]

8. Because you can not outlaw ambitious evil people n/t

[Strelnikov_]

3. Hey, goddammit, we're their arms dealer

Putin is cutting in on our action.

And where the hell are our mangoes?

[La Lioness Priyanka]

7. lol

:)

[iandhr]

4. India geting military equipment..

...from a diverse market place. We sell them stuff. Israel sold them a air defense system last year, and now Russia is getting into the game.

[tabasco]

5. What else is new?

I visited an Indian military unit one time and they had some very nice BMP-2's that I had never seen up close before. Very well maintained.

[golfguru]

10. My brother was a career IAF officer and I can vouch

for the effectiveness of Indian Air Force capabilities.