WASHINGTON: Former secretary of state Henry A. Kissinger visualizes the possibility of India emerging as a great power seeking an influential role in the area from ‘Aden to Singapore.
Testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee here July 17, he said as India emerges into great power status, it can be expected to return to the police of the British Raj imperialism Service under the viceroys located first in Calcutta and towards the end of the British rule in New Delhi. Kissinger said India would seek an influential, if not dominant, role in the arch extending from Aden to Singapore.
“This will produce clashing perceptions with China in Tibet and Myanmar, and with Indonesia. Vietnam and to a lesser extent, China in South Asia,” he added. Later former external affairs minister, K. Natwar Singh described as mischievous and unfortunate the observations about India made by the former US Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger, and said that it deserved to be treated with disdain.
In a statement here, Natwar Singh said that Kissinger’s understanding of Indian affairs had always been “flawed” and that as secretary of state he did maximum and lasting damage to Indo US relations.
Natwar Singh said that Kissinger now wants to create a wedge between India and China when relations between these two countries are rapidly improving.
Article extracted from this publication >> July 21, 1995
