by Caroline Daniel

02-06-05

Henry Kissinger, former US secretary of state, warned that the global battle for control of energy resources could become the modern equivalent of the 19th century “great game” the conflict between the UK and Tsarist Russia for supremacy in central Asia.

“The great game is developing again,” he told a meeting of the US-India Business Council. “The amount of energy is finite, up to now in relation to demand, and competition for access to energy can become the life and death for many societies. It would be ironic if the direction of pipelines and locations become the modern equivalent of the colonial disputes of the 19th century.”

His comments come amid tensions over the building of a $ 4.5 bn (£ 2.5 bn) gas pipeline from Iran to India through Pakistan, which has become a critical part of the two-year India-Pakistan peace process. In March, Condoleezza Rice, US secretary of state, expressed objections, reflecting concern about Tehran's development of nuclear weapons.

The two nuclear superpowers, the US and Soviet Union, navigated the cold war because they made “the same calculations”, Mr Kissinger said.

“When nuclear weapons spread to 30 or 40 countries and each conducts a calculation, with less experience and different value systems, we will have a world of permanent imminent catastrophe.”

Mr Kissinger called on India to join a dialogue on energy and proliferation and suggested “a global conference among the nuclear powers on how to do it. It has to be one of the top priorities of a US administration.”

In a clear rejection of George W. Bush's advocacy of democracy, he argued: “I do not believe India will join a crusade to spread democracy. For the US to crusade in every part of the world simultaneously to spread democracy may be beyond our capacity.”

While he noted that US-India relations had improved considerably over the last 30 years, he disagreed with suggestions that India should be built up as a counterweight to the growing strength of China in the region.

“India will be concerned with its own security and independence and should not be part of an American desire to counterbalance China,” he said. “It is not a situation where good relations with one country have to be aimed at another.”

Source: news.ft.com