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America does not intend to open any new military bases in South Asia and would withdraw its troops from the region as soon as terrorism is dealt with, the US Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs, Lincoln Bloomfield Jr, said in New Delhi on Tuesday.
After two days of consultations on cyber-terrorism and initiation of a politico-military dialogue between India and the US, the official said: "It is very clear that US has no ambition to have permanent bases here."
He said Afghanistan was a clear example of what America wanted to do during Operation Enduring Freedom, of freeing the country from the clutches of the Taliban and handing it over to its people.
When pointed out that security experts warn that the present US deployment in the region has seeds of a future conflict between America and its allies on the one hand and China, Russia and other nations on the other, he said that the fears are misplaced.
Concerns in India about an American interest in setting up a base in Sri Lanka are also unfounded, he said. "We seek in South Asia no bases other than that is there already," he said.
During his visit, Bloomfield Jr initiated the first Indo-US politico-military dialogue with his Indian counterpart Jayant Prasad, joint secretary (Americas) in the Ministry of External Affairs. He also attended the inaugural session of the Indo-US Cyber Security Forum.
"The purpose of today's political-military dialogue was to set the stage for a closer and even more productive bilateral security relationship. I had the opportunity to hear in detail India's strategic perspectives, priorities and visions for the future in the context of the regional and international security environment," Bloomfield Jr said. He presented the American "perspectives on Operation Enduring Freedom and the Global War on Terrorism".
The discussions "included Indian military modernisation, and India's perspectives on the US as a potential defence supplier", he said.
Bloomfield Jr's department advises Secretary of State Colin Powell on America's security assistance programmes such as the International Military Education and Training, Foreign Military Financing, and Peacekeeping Operations. He is also responsible for America's arms sales policy and for commercial defence trade controls, including licensing.
Bloomfield Jr's delegation briefed the Indian officials about the US defence trade licensing process and US arms transfer policy.
"I will return to Washington tonight [Tuesday night] with what I know will be good news for Secretary Powell: political-military relations between the United States and India are strong and growing," he said.
The assistant secretary of state also held meetings with an Indian delegation on cyber security, and took part in the first meeting of the Indo-US Cyber Security Forum. The Forum is an outgrowth of the Indo-US Cyber Terrorism Initiative launched by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and US President George Bush during the former's visit to Washington in November 2001.
The US delegation was represented by "the full range of US government agencies as well as university representatives", the assistant secretary of state said.
"We presented our assessment of the global threat, and described the measures we have taken to minimise vulnerability of our critical information systems," Bloomfield Jr said.
He said both the countries would work together to protect each other's critical infrastructure and other assets from cyber terrorism.
Bloomfield Jr said India has a critical presence in the cyber scenario with its strong software base and growing number of computers and large infrastructure.
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