Kissinger: India is a reliable US partner

Wednesday, November 19, 2008 at 2:11 am

Henry Kissinger, former US Secretary of State and Nobel Peace prize winner had a different view of India from the one that he has today. He was once a bitter critic but now former US secretary of State and cold war master strategist – Henry Kissinger hails India as a reliable partner of the United States.

“India is a reliable partner of the United States. The key issues of this period…of global nature and of regional nature require the cooperation of India and the United States. I have confidence in our new President”, he said.

This might not be the first time Kissinger has endorsed India but not many have forgotten the hawkish positions he took during the height of the Cold War.

In a conversation with President Nixon in the year 1971, Kissinger had said, “They (Indians) are the most aggressive goddamn people around there.” Not just that, during the 1971 Indo-Pak war – Kissinger even wanted China to attack India and sent the US aircraft carrier enterprise to the Bay of Bengal.

But the change of tone in Kissinger’s views of India is only an evidence of improving ties between the two countries. By 2006, while the nuke deal was coming through, Kissinger decided that India could be a friend of the US.

He said “America’s global strategy benefits from India’s participation in building a new world order” and “the emerging cooperation between the two great democracies introduces a positive and hopeful perspective.” In South East Asia, the big players would be China, India, Japan and the USA. “Here American and Indian interests are or could be made to be quite congruent.”

( This post is from an independent writer. The opinions and views expressed herein are those of the author and are not endorsed by APakistanNews.Com.)

Kissinger: India is a reliable US partner

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