India will be a dominant player in South Asia, Middle East

Lalit K Jha
Washington, Mar 17 (PTI) India's strategic location in
the Indian Ocean and proud martial traditions will make it a
dominant player in South Asia and the Middle East in the next
25 years, a Pentagon report has said.
US Joint Forces Command in its latest report of emerging
geopolitical and technological trends, which estimates their
potential impact on future military operations, said it will
likely have a role to play as America encourages the growth of
India as a regional and even global power.
"India has a special place in the future international
environment. Few countries in the world may figure as
prominently in future US strategic calculations," a 'Joint
Operating Environment (JOE) 2010' report released Tuesday
said.
"India's military will receive substantial upgrades in
the coming years. That fact, combined with its proud martial
traditions and strategic location in the Indian Ocean, will
make India the dominant player in South Asia and the Middle
East," the report said.
In the next 25 years, the report said relative balance
of power between states will shift, some growing faster than
the US and many states weakening relative to the US. MORE PTI