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India: USS Nimitz to dock at Chennai
New Delhi, 26 June (AKI/Asian Age) - The Indian government, in a reversal of accepted practice, has allowed the nuclear-armed American aircraft-carrier USS Nimitz to dock at Chennai port. Defence minister A.K. Antony on Monday justified the decision as part of defence cooperation with "important nations". He insisted that it was "nothing new", although the docking of the aircraft-carrier at an Indian port is a first for both the United States as well as India.The decision could not have been more controversial. The USS Nimitz is a familiar presence in the waters of the Persian Gulf, having been involved in US operations against Iraq, and again more recently in the wargames designed to exert pressure on Iran. The warship was deployed in the Gulf as part of US pressure tactics against Iraq as far back as 1997, with at least two dozen F-14 and F-18 fighter aircraft being launched in regular sorties to enforce what was then the no-fly zone over the sanctions-hit country. A defensive Mr Antony was particularly keen to point out that the docking of the nuclear warship was not against Indian policy. Instead, he said, "as part of our policy we are developing close defence cooperation with almost all important countries." He spoke of exercises with different countries, including China, in a clear bid to assuage the Left, which had issued a statement criticising the decision to allow the US warship access to the Indian port. The Nimitz is now deployed in the Gulf, where it was sent by the Bush administration to "send a message" to Iran, according to reports filed by journalists on board, and is scheduled to arrive in Chennai around July 1. The warship is likely to be berthed there till around July 5. The Indian Navy has had experience of USS Nimitz: a total of 6,500 US and Indian seamen had participated in the "Malabar" naval exercises that included the Nimitz and the Indian aircraft-carrier INS Viraat in 2005. It was for the first time, shortly after the UPA government came to power, that the two aircraft-carriers participated in these exercises, which included "at-sea manoeuvres designed to increase inter-operability between the two navies and enhance the cooperative security relationship between India and the United States." US experts at the time maintained that the September 2005 Malabar exercises had featured an "impressive leap in capabilities" during a month of operations, the US and Indian navies "collaborated on everything, from a joint diving salvage operation to a 24-hour war-at-sea scenario." The US embassy here, in a press release, described "the first-ever port call in India by a US aircraft-carrier" as a "landmark event." It has claimed that the nuclear safety record of US nuclear-powered warships "is outstanding". The sailors from the USS Nimitz, the press release said, "will volunteer in numerous goodwill events in the local community, such as cleaning local sites, refurbishing buildings and interacting with different members of the community." A month back, the Nimitz was part of what the international media described as a "display of US naval power in the Persian Gulf" intended to exert pressure on Iran. USS Nimitz was part of nine warships which passed through the Strait of Hormuz, with the wargames inviting strong criticism from Iran. The media reported a sharp increase in oil prices as a result of the presence of 140 warplanes, cruise missiles and over 17,000 sailors and marines in the Gulf waters. The Nimitz carrier strike group entered the US Fifth Fleet area of operations on May 8, according to US reports, "to enhance maritime security operations in regional waters, and provide air support to ground forces operating in Afghanistan and Iraq." Sources here said there was some worry within the Indian defence ministry about allowing the carrier to dock in Chennai because of the "controversial message" it would send out to friendly countries in the region. The government, the sources said, took the decision at the highest level, despite the strong objections raised by some West Asian countries against its presence in their waters. USS Nimitz was commissioned in 1975 and initially deployed in the Mediterranean. As far back as 1979 it was the launchpad for a mission to rescue US embassy personnel held hostage in Tehran just after the Iranian revolution, but the operation was aborted as the helicopters crashed. It was again deployed in a navigation exercise in the Gulf of Sidra despite strong objections from Libya, which even launched an attack on two aircraft launched from Nimitz. Later, it was sent to the coast of Lebanon as a warning after two Lebanese gunmen had hijacked a TWA flight in 1985. From 2003, it has been regularly deployed in the Persian Gulf, with trips back to the US for repairs and maintenance. It has been used by successive US governments to exert pressure in the region. Posted by: mrp 2007-06-26 |
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