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Chapter 1 The Way We Were ...

22 March 2023

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It was the year 2000, and India and Pakistan were inching towards war. The Kashmir crisis had boiled over after a decade of border clashes, terrorist attacks and incidents at sea. Both countries had accumulated an extensive array of advanced weapons, including nuclear surface-to-surface missiles. The two navies were sent to sea, with both countries declaring maritime exclusion zones. India threatened to attack any foreign naval force that entered its 600- nautical-mile zone.

The Indian subcontinent was heating up just as the Cold War was winding down. An increasing number of countries flaunted sophisticated weapons. The Soviet threat had receded but the rise of new centres of power posed new dangers. There was no global equilibrium because independent activity by Third World nations' had become more likely. Western analysts worried about potential conflicts between 'mortal enemies' and 'catastrophic failures of the human condition' in poor countries. The India-Pakistan conflagration was but one example of dangers facing the post-Cold War world.

As the sole remaining superpower, the US had responsibilities to prevent a nuclear war in South Asia. The US national security team gathered in the Situation Room located in the basement of the White House. The air was thick with tension. Top Pentagon generals gave a PowerPoint presentation on the India-Pakistan situation. In their judgement, India was preparing a pre-emptive strike against Pakistan's nuclear facilities Agni and Prithvi missiles were at the ready. They wanted to deter India.

The team agreed that a highly destructive' India-Pakistan war was a danger to US national security. US vital interests were at stake. Maintaining regional order and a peaceful maritime environment were paramount, since the US economy was increasingly dependent on imports. Any disruption in oil supplies because of closure of sea lanes would be devastating..

The US government decided to send two aircraft carrier battle groups and two nuclear-powered attack submarines into the Indian Ocean as a warning. The US fleet penetrated India's maritime exclusion zone south-west of Bombay. In return, the Indian Navy conducted aggressive' over flights and 'mock' submarine attacks against US aircraft carriers and threatened to mount a real attack if US forces didn't leave.

The US, in turn, warned India of an 'appropriate' response if it interfered with the peaceful transit' of the American fleet. The US military base at Diego Garcia was ordered on full alert with B-52 bombers ready to fly. Targets in India were selected. The list included Agni and Prithvi missile sites, Virbahu submarine base, Venduruthy naval air station, ammunition storage facilities, hangars, a power plant and even repair shops. The idea was to destroy Indian weapons, sensors and all ground capability that might pose a problem for US carrier battle groups.

American B-52 bombers, attack submarines and naval destroyer ships rained down a total of 190 cruise missiles on Indian targets. The missiles came rapidly, crushing India's ability to respond. India's command and control centres were decimated. The Indian Navy was under relentless fire and its aircraft were grounded. US forces still had 117 missiles in reserve in the unlikely case of an Indian response. India was humbled.

What's described above was presented as a likely event in 1991 in front of an elite Washington audience. General Dynamics, one of the largest US arms manufacturers at the time, set the chilling war scenario nine years into the future, in 2000. Today it may seem fantastic, even unbelievable, but at the time, India was seen as a hostile power by large segments of the US strategic community.

More Books by HarperCollins India

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Articles
Friends With Benefits : The India-US Story
4.0
Thirty years ago, when veteran journalist Seema Sirohi first arrived in Washington DC, bilateral relations between India and the United States of America were at their worst. In the late 1980s and 1990s, the political spotlight shone favourably upon Pakistan and China. For the leader of the free world, India didn’t matter. The years leading up to the twenty-first century saw the US-and the multilateral organizations of which it was a member-force India to jump through endless bureaucratic hoops. India’s nuclear tests in 1998 were the final nail in its coffin, as far as the US was concerned. Cut to the present, and the curtain has lifted on a dramatically different geopolitical stage. India is no longer the enemy for the US, nor is it sidelined strategically. In an age dominated not just by China’s rise but by its undoubted political and economic muscle power, India has become the fashionable new ally in Washington. What has taken the two countries so long to get here? What have been the events that have forced India and the US to dance, finally, in sync? Did political leaders take the initiative to push policy mandarins to change the game, or was it vice versa? What role has China played in the change in bilateral relations? And are India and the US finally ready for a relationship of equals, or will they continue to be ‘friends with benefits’? To look for answers, this book takes the reader back to the twilight years of the Cold War, and charts an engaging journey of global and bilateral diplomacy through the decades. Using first-hand reportage and drawing on conversations with key diplomats, foreign policy makers and former CIA operatives, Sirohi brings a delightfully frank and anecdotal perspective to a thrilling tale of diplomacy and high-voltage politics.