India-US ties: In his latest statement, former Indian Army chief General Bikram Singh urged the government to exercise caution while dealing with the United States regarding strategic matters.
The retired Army officer said this claiming that the world's most powerful country has not proven to be trustworthy to its close allies.
Despite India being a part of the QUAD alliance, he advised the government to tread cautiously when interacting with the US, which has recently strengthened its ties with New Delhi. The Quad, or Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, comprises India, the US, Japan and Australia.
Gen Singh hails QUAD initiative
"While it's good that we are part of the QUAD which is being seen as a counterweight to China in the Indo-Pacific region. However, it will be in our interest that we move cautiously with the US, because Washington has never made itself trustworthy in its dealings with any of its strategic and defence allies," he told the SBI Banking & Economic conclave on Thursday evening, November 24.
Further elaborating his call for a cautious approach in strategic dealings with Washington, General Singh, said, "The US extricated itself first from Vietnam, then twice from Iraq, and recently from Afghanistan. We must be very cautious in dealing with the US."
US has failed in all of its external military interventions: Gen Singh
General Singh, who was the 24th Army chief, went on to say that the US has failed in all of its external military interventions owing to its habit of outsourcing its work to others.
It is worth mentioning here that the QUAD started as a diplomatic network originally floated by former Japanese Prime Minister late Shinzo Abe in early 2007 and later took shape as a four-nation bloc. It aims to strengthen a free and open international order based on the rule of law in the Indo-Pacific region.
(With inputs from PTI)
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