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India snubs Australia, US move to check China NEW DELHI: India on Thursday firmly rejected any prospect of joining or forging a trilateral security pact with the US and Australia, remaining steadfast on its long-standing stand of bolstering defence cooperation with other countries on a strictly bilateral basis. Completely taken aback by Australian foreign minister Kevin Rudds statement that India would be roped into the trilateral pact, which will seek to contain China in the Asia-Pacific region, top defence ministry sources said India was not keen on hopping onto any multi-lateral security constructs in the region. The only exceptions are those which come under the UN Flag or are broad-based arrangements like ARF ( Asean Regional Forum) and ADMM-Plus (Asean defence ministers plus eight countries like India, China, the US, Russia, Australia, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand), said a source. The rebuff came after Rudd, in an interview to an Australian newspaper, was quoted as stating that the Indian governments response to the proposed trilateral economic and security pact has really been quite positive. The Indian external affairs ministry spokesperson, however, said India was not aware of any such proposal, cold-shouldering any move to drag New Delhi into a security cooperation axis against a prickly Beijing. MoD sources said Australian defence minister Stephen Smith, who has supported his PM Julia Gillards move to revoke the ban on uranium exports to India, would get the same message when he comes for delegation-level talks with his Indian counterpart AK Antony on December 7. Back |
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