The New Nation - Internet Edition

Reuters, Washington

The United States is gearing up to battle Russia and Europe for sales of billions of dollars in jet fighters, cargo aircraft and other arms to India. U.S. officials regard sales to India, with a potential $40 billion arms market including missile-defense systems, as a way to cement strategic ties and boost bilateral military cooperation as a hedge against China's growing clout. "By reaching out to India, we have made the bet that the planet's future lies in pluralism, democracy and market economics," said Nicholas Burns, the State Department's No. 3 official, "rather than in intolerance, despotism and state planning," an apparent reference to communist-ruled China.