NEW DELHI: The US maintains special forces' teams in India to train Indian forces in counter-terrorism, specifically against Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), evoking sharp reaction from CPI that why the government kept it under wraps and Parliament was not taken into confidence in the matter.
Admitting this for the first time, chief of US' Pacific Command (PACOM) Robert Willard told a Congressional hearing that both Washington and New Delhi were working closely against the threat of terrorism from LeT.
"We are working very closely with India with regard to their counter-terrorism capabilities and in particular on the maritime domain but also government to government, not necessarily DoD (Department of Defence) but other agencies assisting them in terms of their internal counter-terror and counterinsurgency challenges," Willard said.
LeT, he said, "is a very important threat, and we're working very closely with the nations in the region to help contain it."
He said PACOM's India Engagement Initiative that resourced and hosted Mumbai counter-terrorist specialists for training exercises and exchanges throughout the US, together with capacity-building activities with South Asian partners are mainly focused on containing LeT and contributing to CT self-sufficiency of the sub-region's militaries.
For this purpose, Willard says, the US maintains "special forces assist teams - Pacific assist teams is the term - laid down in Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, the Maldives as well as India." The revelation was a surprise, but as officials clarified, the mechanism does not entail special forces being stationed in India. For that to happen India and the US would have to sign a Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), which is unlikely.
Indian and US special forces conduct joint exercises in Mizoram and other areas, but in this case, Willard is referring to training Indians in counter-terrorism techniques. India is among the most vulnerable nations in the world to violent terrorism from Pakistan, with LeT taking the lead in sponsoring attacks against New Delhi.
In his written testimony, Willard said pursuing a US-India strategic partnership through a close alignment of respective regional security interests is a priority for the US Department of Defence and US PACOM. Terrorism is one of the areas where both nations are now working very closely with each other.
"The relationship with India is strong and growing stronger. It's not without its challenges," Willard said.
"We don't have a long history between the countries, as you know. We went through a Cold War without much of a relationship at all. Following the nuclear tests in the late 1990s, we suspended relations government to government. So we've really only been acquainted with India in the past decade," Willard said.
"And mil-to-mil, we began at a pretty nascent stage and have progressed to the point that today we exercise with India across all the services. It's one of the most significant security assistance programmes that we have in the Asia-Pacific Theater right now," he said.
"At the same time, they (India) pride themselves in what they term strategic autonomy, kind of, a non-alliance philosophy. And as a consequence of that, we are challenged in the relationship by virtue of India seeking to balance its associations with many other nations as well."
"And India is in a very challenged part of the world, as we all know, with Afghanistan close by; Pakistan as a neighbour; the Kashmir issue, which has persisted for a long time; and a disputed border between India, China. So there are a lot of issues on the plate, and we're seeking to continue to dialogue with India - terror being one of them -and try to improve the relationships where we can," he added.
