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.
PTI
