VOA标准英语2009年-India-US Military Relations Growing Rapidl

By Ravi Khanna
Washington
08 October 2009

For decades, India mostly depended on, first, the Soviet¹ Union and then Russia for its military supplies. But as the Cold War ended and India's relations with the United States began improving during Bill Clinton's presidency², New Delhi gradually increased its military cooperation with Washington. Both New Delhi and Washington have said their relationship is not aimed against India's arch-rival Pakistan. Today, besides holding joint³ military exercises with the U.S. military, India has also been buying U.S. armaments worth billions of dollars.

 
Airborne Early Warning Air Craft, Hawkeye E-2D
The latest India-U.S. defense⁴ deal is the sale of this Airborne Early Warning Air Craft, Hawkeye E-2D, developed by American arms manufacturer, Northrop Grumman.

Woolf Gross, the corporate⁵ director at the company, says the reconnaissance plane has yet to be introduced in the U.S. Navy. Its sale to India, he says, is a symbol of how close India/U.S. military relations are.

"So they [the Indians] could have advanced Hawkeyes in India about the same time that the U.S. Navy becomes fully⁶ operational with the same aircraft," he explained.

During Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's visit to India in July, the two countries agreed on the terms of such high technology sales to India. 
 
 
Meera Shankar
India's Ambassador to Washington, Meera Shankar is optimistic about future cooperation.

"Our militaries once unfamiliar⁷ with each other now hold regular dialog and joint exercises in the air and on land and sea. We coordinate⁸ anti-piracy⁹ efforts and have worked together on humanitarian¹⁰ missions. Our defense trade was negligible a decade ago. We placed orders worth $3.5 billion last year and it could grow even more in the future," Shankar said.

Since joint exercises between the two countries are expected to grow, it is better for India to buy equipment that is compatible with the U.S. military, says Walter Andersen at Johns Hopkins University. He says India imports most of its oil and gas and other merchandise by sea, and India is in favor of holding more joint naval¹¹ exercises.

"And there is real and present danger from growing threats of piracy both on the eastern and western ends of the sea lanes coming out of the Strait of Hormuz carrying oil and gas. And also on the Horn of Africa as well as the Somalia coast where there have been real problems," Andersen said.

In the wake of last year's Mumbai terror attacks, Andersen says India is also keen to get help from the U.S. on how to combat terrorism.  India blamed the attacks on a Pakistan based militant¹² group known as Lashkar-e-Taiba.

The group is still intact and determined¹³ to repeat the Mumbai terror attacks, says Michael Leiter who heads the Counter-terrorism Center in Washington."I think it is worth noting that in Pakistan, Lashkar-e- Taiba, an al-Qaida ally, continues to pose a threat to a variety of interests in South Asia. The group continues to plan attacks on India that could have major geo-political consequences for the U.S. fight against terrorism," Leiter said.

The Mumbai terror attacks were a "wake up" call for India, says Woolf Gross at Northrop Grumman. He says as India shores up security on its coasts, it will also be a large market for U.S. anti-terrorism equipment.

 
Woolf Gross
"Speed boats to patrol the coasts in very short range and larger ships further out on the sea constituting a better and broader-based patrol capability¹⁴ as well as operation centers that are geared to share information and provide information back and forth," Gross said.

Military analysts¹⁵ say the ongoing¹⁶ military cooperation between India and the United States is bound to grow as India plans to spend billions of dollars for modernizing¹⁷ it defense capabilities¹⁸. India, they say, is preparing for short term threats from Pakistan and long-term deterrence¹⁹ against China.

1 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

2 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

3 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。

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 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

6 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

7 unfamiliar   

adj.陌生的，不熟悉的

参考例句：

• I am unfamiliar with the place and the people here.我在这儿人地生疏。
• The man seemed unfamiliar to me.这人很面生。

8 coordinate   

adj.同等的，协调的；n.同等者；vt.协作，协调

参考例句：

• You must coordinate what you said with what you did.你必须使你的言行一致。
• Maybe we can coordinate the relation of them.或许我们可以调和他们之间的关系。

9 piracy   

n.海盗行为，剽窃，著作权侵害

参考例句：

• The government has already adopted effective measures against piracy.政府已采取有效措施惩治盗版行为。
• They made the place a notorious centre of piracy.他们把这地方变成了臭名昭著的海盗中心。

10 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

11 naval   

adj.海军的，军舰的，船的

参考例句：

• He took part in a great naval battle.他参加了一次大海战。
• The harbour is an important naval base.该港是一个重要的海军基地。

12 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

13 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

14 capability   

n.能力；才能；(pl)可发展的能力或特性等

参考例句：

• She has the capability to become a very fine actress.她有潜力成为杰出演员。
• Organizing a whole department is beyond his capability.组织整个部门是他能力以外的事。

15 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

16 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

17 modernizing   

使现代化，使适应现代需要( modernize的现在分词 )； 现代化，使用现代方法

参考例句：

• Modernizing a business to increase its profitability and competitiveness is a complicated affair. 使企业现代化，从而达到增加利润，增强竞争力的目的，是一件复杂的事情。
• The young engineer had a large share in modernizing the factory. 这位年轻工程师在工厂现代化的过程中尽了很大的“力”。

18 capabilities   

n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力

参考例句：

• He was somewhat pompous and had a high opinion of his own capabilities. 他有点自大，自视甚高。 来自辞典例句
• Some programmers use tabs to break complex product capabilities into smaller chunks. 一些程序员认为，标签可以将复杂的功能分为每个窗格一组简单的功能。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

19 deterrence   

威慑，制止； 制止物，制止因素； 挽留的事物； 核威慑

参考例句：

• An extreme school of "disarmers" pronounced stable deterrence was a dangerous deception. “裁军论者”中的极端派声称，稳定的威摄是一种危险的骗局。
• Escalation is thus an aspect of deterrence and of crisis management. 因此逐步升级是威慑和危机处理的一个方面。