----- Original Message ----- From: Rick Rozoff <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Thursday, March 30, 2000 4:53 PM Subject: [STOPNATO] 'North Atlantic' to stretch to Indian Ocean STOP NATO: NO PASARAN! - HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.HOME-PAGE.ORG DAWN (Pakistan) 27 March 2000 Monday 20 Zilhaj 1420 "US plans to establish a naval base in the Indian Ocean region" New Delhi, March 27: The US plans to establishing a naval base in the Indian Ocean region has the Indian navy worried. With no scope of setting up a naval base eighter in Pakistan or India, the US has been keenly eyeing Bangladesh, reports a leading Indian daily 'The Indian Express'. However, according to sources in the navy, the US could not make headway on this issue during the recent visit of President Clinton to Bangladesh. The Indian navy, which has been looking for a greater role in the Indian Ocean region, is wary of having "extra-regional powers" in the region as the paper said. Sources in the Naval Headquarters said Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Sushil Kumar is against having any outside navy in the region but feels that the decision finally lies with the host country. "During his visit to Jaipur, delivering a lecture on Challenges in the New Millennium at Rajasthan University, he mentioned that strategically it would not be good for India if extra regional powers set up bases in the Indian ocean region, said an official. The 49,000-personnel navy hopes to play a greater role in the new millennium, especially when most of the trade and resources are sea-based, the paper said, adding the navy feels that India's dependence on sea will increase in the coming years. "Ninety eight per cent of India's trade is through the sea. And oil resources again come only through sea. Almost 3000 ships (merchant vessels) pass close to India's coastline everyday. And this is also how India can influence trading in the region, sources in the navy feel. However, the coming of US would alter the situation completely and instead of India, the US would be dominating navy in the region. At the same time it would upset the balance of power and consequently trade. After all more than territorial power, it is economic domination that will decide power in the coming years, is the dominant thinking prevalent in the navy. In fact, one argument put forward by late prime minister Rajiv Gandhi's government to send the Indian armed forces into Sri Lanka in 1987 was because the government of the day feared US intervention in Sri Lanka. (APP) ______________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED] ______________________________________________________________________ Start Your Own FREE Email List at http://www.listbot.com
