U.S. sees India as security partner

SINGAPORE: The united states will "look to India to be a partner and a net provider of security in the Indian Ocean and beyond" in the coming years.
Such a political preference was outlined by U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates at the eighth annual Asian Security summit, being held here under the auspices of the London-based International Institute for strategic Studies.
Asked to amplify his remark during a question-answer session after his plenary address, Dr. Gates said: "what we see in India is a great power that has tremendous potential to be a major player in bringing international security and stability to a lot of places."
As an initial example, he cited India's current counter-piracy operations off the Horn of Africa.
The U.S., he said, applauded India for the way it "has conducted itself with great sophistication and care over a period of considerable turbulence, including pakistan's political crisis last year and in response to the terrorist attacks in mumbai."
India's continuing contribution to the infrastructure development in Afghanistan was also commended, and pakistan was praised for its anti taliban operations near its border with Afghanistan in recent weeks."
Ties with china
Asked to predict the status of U.S. - china relations in the next decade, Dr. Gates saw this as "more of a mystery than a secret."
However, he noted that the U.S. was already "working with china on common challenges."
On the latest nuclear weapon test by North korea, he said: "we will not stand idly by a North Korea builds the capability to wreak destruction on any target in Asia or on us."

U.S. Preparing for the cyber battlefield

1. cyber command being created to wage digital warfare
2. obama announces plans to overhaul cyber security

washington : The U.S.military is moving ahead with plans to create its first "cyber command" designed to bolster America's potential to wage digital warfare as well as defend against cyber threats, officials said on friday.
After President Barack Obama announced his Plans to overhaul cyber security policy, Defence Secretary Robert Gates was expected to sonn formally propose the new cyber command that will be overseen by a four-star officer, Pentagon officials told AFP.
The move reflects a shift in military strategy with "cyber dominance" now part of U.S war doctrine and growing alarm over the perceived threst posed by digital espionage coming from China, Russia and elsewhere.
U.S. officials say china has built up a sophisticated cyber warfare programme and that a spate of intrusions in the United States and elsewhere can be traced back to chinese sources.
Defences officials say the cyber command would focus on security efforts for U.S networks along with offensive capabilities to ensure "freedom of action in cyber space" to protect America's interests.
The Precise details of U.S. cyber military power remain secret, but it includes technology capable of penetrating and jamming networks, including the classified suter airborne system, analysts say.
The technology has been repotedly added to unmanned aircraft and allows for users to take over enemy sensors to "see what enemy sensors see, and even take over as systems administrator so sensors can be manipulated into positions so that approaching aircraft can't be seen," according to Aviation week. Speculation has persisted that Israel may have used the technology in a 2007 air raid against a Syrian construction site.
The new U.S.military cyber centre would be placed initially under U.S. Strategic Command, which is already leading the military's cyber security efforts, and be located at Fort Meade in Maryland. The officer widely expected to lead the command is Lieutenant-General Keith Alexander, the Director of the National Security Agency (NSA). By naming Lt. Gen. Alexander, the obama administration may be hoping to resolve a long-running feud over which agency should have authority over cyber warfare and security. Civil libertie's activists have warned against allowing NSA to oversee cyber security , saying it would place too much power in one agency with the NSA policing the networks that it exploits to carry out eavesdropping.
Mr. Obama's new cyber policy comes as gangs of cyber criminals, foreign intelligence services, industrial spies and hackers increasingly prey on U.S. networks, according to various studies.
There have been reported breaches of the U.S. electricity grid and the F-35 fighter jet programme, and Mr. Obama mentioned a cyber attack-blamed by some accounts on foreign spy services, on the computer hub for his own 2008 presidential campaign.