2006年VOA标准英语-Officials Say Military Relations to be Key

By Al Pessin
Washington
28 February 2006
 
Most of the attention before President Bush's visit to India this week has been focused on the pending¹ nuclear cooperation agreement. The president says he will pursue a broad array of economic and political topics during his visit. But officials and experts say the relatively² new and fast-growing U.S.-India military relationship will also be an important part of the trip, including the potential sale of U.S.-made fighter aircraft to India.

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It was only 15 years ago that Congress came within three votes of cutting aid to India because of its nuclear-weapons program. Today, both the Senate and the House of Representatives have large blocks of members devoted³ to promoting U.S.-India relations.

Peter Rodman  
  

That is only one indication of the depth and breadth of the changes in U.S.-India relations in recent years, a development summed up in a VOA interview by Assistant Secretary of Defense⁴ for International Security Affairs Peter Rodman. "We see India as a strategic partner in the 21st Century," he said.

Rodman says the old U.S. policy of punishing India for its nuclear program was not working, and the September 11 attacks in 2001 focused attention on a variety of common U.S. and Indian interests, including regional security and the war against terrorism. "The strategic environment of the new era is really pulling all of this together, and the president's trip to India is a way, I think, to bring this to a new stage," he said.

That new stage includes defense and military relations, including joint⁵ exercises at Indian army facilities in the jungle near the Burmese border, and at high altitude in Kashmir, and joint exercises between two of the world's leading air forces. There have also been military sales, including India's purchase last year of U.S. airborne warning and control aircraft.

"Our hope is that each of us will develop a track record. We will have more confidence in dealing⁶ with them. They will have more confidence in our reliability⁷. The president is not going there to finalize⁸ deals, but we hope that this is a step toward the kind of mutual⁹ confidence that might develop in that way," he said.

And India is considering U.S. options as it prepares to buy a new generation of fighter jets. "We think it ia great breakthrough that we are in that competition, and the Indians seem interested in buying, at least in considering buying, a significant [weapons] system from the United States," he said.

India expert Samit Ganguly of Indiana University puts it even more dramatically. "[It is] surprising beyond measure that we are at this stage when we can engage in a serious discussion about the sale of such lethal¹⁰ weaponry to India, given the long-standing distrust on both sides. This constitutes a dramatic shift on both sides," he said.

At the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the former top State Department official for South Asian Affairs, Teresita Schaffer, says the changes in U.S.-Indian defense relations, while dramatic, are also logical. "It is driven, I would say, by a recognition that the U.S. and India have very important common interests in Asian peace and stability and security in the Indian Ocean. And that these things make it natural for the two militaries to get to know each other better, and to find areas where they can work together," she said.

At a recent news conference, India's ambassador to the United States, Ronen Sen, expressed a similar view. "I do not foresee any situation in which there would be a clash of basic national interests between India and the United States. We might have, even in areas where we agree on the final outcome, we might have differences of approach on how to resolve certain issues," he said.

One factor that looms¹¹ as a concern as the United States and India expand their defense relationship, and consider a fighter sale, is the impact on the longstanding U.S. relationship with Pakistan, a key U.S. ally in the war against terrorism that President Bush will also visit this week.

"Well, they do not like it." said Rodman. "They do not have a veto over what we do. And we are an important supplier of Pakistan, and have always been. And we are trying to show our good faith to Pakistan that we support their conventional strength. And so, particularly if their own relations with each other are reasonably calm, then we have to do this."

Professor Ganguly believes there is more long-term potential for U.S.-Indian relations than there is for U.S.-Pakistani relations. "This is a relationship based upon an exigency¹². The Indo-U.S. relationship is much more robust¹³. It is economic. It is military. It is cultural. It is multi-dimensional, whereas the relationship with Pakistan is one of strategic necessity," he said.

He says the U.S. Pakistan relationship goes back many years, but he notes that there have been interruptions based on policy differences, and that there is strong anti-American sentiment among Pakistanis.

Rodman says recent U.S. policy demonstrates that the United States can have strong defense relations with both India and Pakistan, even if the United States sells highly sophisticated fighter jets to India. "In a new era, we have new problems on our plate. And there was great potential to deepen our relations with both India and Pakistan, and we think we have succeeded in doing that," he said.

Rodman calls the development of U.S.-Indian defense relations an overdue¹⁴ correction of distortions caused by the Cold War, and he says President Bush's visit will be an important step in that process.

1 pending   

prep.直到，等待…期间；adj.待定的；迫近的

参考例句：

• The lawsuit is still pending in the state court.这案子仍在州法庭等待定夺。
• He knew my examination was pending.他知道我就要考试了。

2 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

3 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

4 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

5 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

6 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

7 reliability   

n.可靠性，确实性

参考例句：

• We mustn't presume too much upon the reliability of such sources.我们不应过分指望这类消息来源的可靠性。
• I can assure you of the reliability of the information.我向你保证这消息可靠。

8 finalize   

v.落实，定下来

参考例句：

• Let us finalize tonight.让我们今天晚上干完
• 。At the same time,industrial designers work with engineers to finalize components and assembly.同时，工业设计师和工程师一道来完成部件和组装部分的工作。

9 mutual   

adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的

参考例句：

• We must pull together for mutual interest.我们必须为相互的利益而通力合作。
• Mutual interests tied us together.相互的利害关系把我们联系在一起。

10 lethal   

adj.致死的；毁灭性的

参考例句：

• A hammer can be a lethal weapon.铁锤可以是致命的武器。
• She took a lethal amount of poison and died.她服了致命剂量的毒药死了。

11 looms   

n.织布机( loom的名词复数 )v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的第三人称单数 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近

参考例句：

• All were busily engaged,men at their ploughs,women at their looms. 大家都很忙，男的耕田，女的织布。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The factory has twenty-five looms. 那家工厂有25台织布机。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 exigency   

n.紧急；迫切需要

参考例句：

• The president is free to act in any sudden exigency.在任何突发的紧急状况下董事长可自行采取行动。
• Economic exigency obliged the govenunent to act.经济的紧急状态迫使政府采取行动。

13 robust   

adj.强壮的，强健的，粗野的，需要体力的，浓的

参考例句：

• She is too tall and robust.她个子太高，身体太壮。
• China wants to keep growth robust to reduce poverty and avoid job losses,AP commented.美联社评论道，中国希望保持经济强势增长，以减少贫困和失业状况。

14 overdue   

adj.过期的，到期未付的；早该有的，迟到的

参考例句：

• The plane is overdue and has been delayed by the bad weather.飞机晚点了，被坏天气耽搁了。
• The landlady is angry because the rent is overdue.女房东生气了，因为房租过期未付。