India-US Cooperation
At a time when the United States faces a serious image problem around the world, there is one country that is bucking the trend: India.
The recent 16-country poll from the Pew Research Center found that Indians have the most favorable image of the United States—ahead of citizens in Poland, Canada, and Great Britain. In India, 71 percent of those polled had a positive view of America, a jump from 54 percent in 2002. What’s more, when asked where a young person should travel in search of opportunity, 38 percent of Indians said America, the largest percentage in any country to agree on a single land of opportunity.
Nice. And here’s the meat of it:
One sign of these changes: The 10-year military agreement reached last week between India and the United States [An emerging alliance with India (7/1/05)]. The agreement is an about-face from the sanctions the United States imposed against India after its 1998 nuclear tests and will allow for joint weapons production, cooperation on missile defense systems, and combined training exercises. Three weeks ahead of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s scheduled visit to Washington, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and the Indian Minister of Defense said the pact heralds a “new era” in India-U.S. relations.
This is good. I would like to see one of these defense pacts with China within the decade [I can dream, can't I?]. We have many common interests and better for us to align on security than spend billions preparing for war with them.