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US says it would ensure rising powers like China, Brazil and India do not threaten world
WASHINGTON: Noting the rise of powers like China, Brazil and India, the US has said it would make sure that America continues to be a force to be reckoned with and these emerging nations do not threaten stability in the world.
"We try everything we can to cooperate with these rising powers and to work with them, but to make sure at the same time that they do not threaten stability in the world, to be able to project our power, to be able to say to the world that we continue to be a force to be reckoned with," US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta said in his address to the Naval Postgraduate School Location.
"We continue to confront rising powers in the world - China, India, Brazil, Russia, countries that we need to cooperate with. We need to hopefully work with. But in the end, we also need to make sure do not threaten the stability of the world," Panetta said in his another address to the Defense Language Institute in California.
"We've got to be able to project our power in a world in which we make clear that we are a force to be reckoned with. All of this comes at a time when we are facing budget challenges in this country, challenges that all of us have a responsibility to confront," he said.
"We are facing the largest deficit in the history of this country, a debt that now approaches USD 14 trillion, an annual deficit of USD 1.4 trillion. We do have to roll up our sleeves and discipline our budget for the future. And defense has to play a role in that," he said.
"But we do not have to choose between fiscal responsibility and protecting our national security. The Congress has enacted some budget savings in the debt ceiling agreement," he said.
"It's my view that while those decisions are going to be tough, that we have the opportunity to make some very important decisions that not only shape defense for today, but the future; that make us an agile force, a deployable force, a force that can confront the threats in the world that has the weapons to be able to do that effectively, that we can project our presence throughout the world and make clear to others that we care about peace in the world," he said.
Panetta said the US continues to have to deal with the threats that emerge from what he called rogue nations like Iran and North Korea that continue to try to develop a nuclear capability and to undermine and threaten stability in those areas of the world.
"We must continue to do everything we can to ensure that those threats do not challenge stability in those very important parts of the world. We now are dealing with cyber threats, another challenge that confronts us. In many ways I've said and I believe this is the battlefield for the future," he said.
"We are now the target of literally hundreds of thousands of attacks every day. The capability to do cyber attacks is growing throughout the world. Countries like China, Iran, Russia, others are developing that capability," he said.
"I truly believe that as that technology increases, as that capability increases, the ability to paralyze this country is very real -- to take down our power grid, to take down our financial systems, take down our government systems, to create the kind of paralysis that would indeed be comparable to a Pearl Harbor-type attack.
"We have got to be ready not only to defend ourselves but to be offensive in being able to go after those that would threaten our country in the cyber arena," Panetta said.
US says it would ensure rising powers like China, Brazil and India do not threaten world - The Economic Times