Last year, on an official trip to India, I had the opportunity to visit a manufacturing plant in Hyderabad that is assembling the newest variant of America’s long-standing tactical airlifter, the C-130J Super Hercules, as part of a joint venture between the American firm Lockheed Martin and the Indian firm Tata. When I returned to India this fall, I had the chance to meet with an Indian Air Force pilot who had successfully landed an Indian C-130J — and, just as importantly, taken off again — in the Himalayas at an altitude well above 16,000 feet. He briefed me on the aircraft’s crucial role in bringing relief to flood victims earlier in the year in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand. On the same trip, I discussed with senior Indian defense officials a recently concluded bilateral military exercise undertaken by members of the Indian Army and soldiers from the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division. While training at Fort Bragg, representatives of our two armies jointly conducted scenarios related to a UN peacekeeping mission and practiced skills ranging from humanitarian assistance to air assault operations. | Article: massintelagency/foreign-policy-entanglements-usas-diplomatic-ties-with-india-troops-remaining-in-afghanistan-after-2014/
Posted on: Fri, 22 Nov 2013 03:02:54 +0000
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