USS Nimitz, the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier of the US Navy, is to visit Chennai from July 1 to5, 2007. Its visit coincides with the celebration of the US Independence Day on July4, 2007. It also coincides with the visit of two ships of the Indian Navy to US ports. INS Tarangini and the newly acquired amphibious vessel INS Jalashwa will be in Boston and Norfolk around the same time.
The announced visit has been viewed with satisfaction by US military circles. They see it as one more landmark in the developing bilateral strategic partnership between India and the US. They interpret it as a welcome indicator that India has forgotten painful memories of the unsuccessful attempt of the then President Richard Nixon to intimidateMrs Indira Gandhi, the then Indian Prime Minister, at the height of the 1971 war with Pakistan by sending the US aircraft-carrier USS Enterprise to the Bay of Bengal on the advice ofMr Henry Kissinger, his Secretary of State.
Unwarranted concerns have been raised by critics of the visit over the dangers of nuclear radiation affecting the health of the population of Chennai. There is hardly any such danger. The aircraft carrier is almost a mini city and the Americans take all necessary and possible precautions to prevent dangers from radiation to their own personnel. Their assurances that there would be no such danger to the Indian population should be accepted.
However, there ought to be some concerns over the impact of the visit on the feelings of the Muslim community all over the world, including India, due to the active role played by US aircraft-carriers, including USS Nimitz, in counter-terrorism operations in Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia. Of equal concern should be its impact on the jihadi terrorism, which we have been facing in India since 1989.
Aircraft-carriers were meant for use against an adversary in a conventional war. Since 9/11, the Americans have been using their aircraft-carriers extensively in counter-terrorismoperations--initially in Afghanistan and subsequently in Iraq and Somalia. It is admitted by independent analysts that the counter-terrorist operations as carried out by the US in Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia have resulted in a large number of civilian casualties due to disproportionate use of carrier-based aircraft to bomb suspected terrorist hide-outs in these countries. Due to the uncontrolled activities of the terrorists, the US has been avoiding basing its aircraft on land in these countries. Instead, it has been using carrier-based aircraft for the air-strikes in support of the ground-based counter-terrorism operations. Even President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan has repeatedly expressed his concern over the large number of civilian casualties by the US air-strikes. Most of these strikes were carried out by carrier-based aircraft.
Previously, USS Eisenhower, another aircraft-carrier, was based in the Gulf area to participate in the counter-terrorismoperations. USS Nimitz sailed from North Island in San Diego on April 2, 2007 for a six-month deployment in the Arabian Sea, relieving the USS Eisenhower. After reaching the Gulf area, the Public Affairs spokesperson of USS Nimitz issued the following statement on May8, 2007: