"India and the US look forward to work together and benefit from each other’s experiences," wrote Defence Minister Rajnath Singh after he visited a top American naval facility Naval Surface Warfare Centre at Carderock.
As a background note we may state that the US wants to help its trusted associate in the comity of nations to boost intel and operational capabilities.
During Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the US in 2023, the Biden administration in Washington agreed to the co-production of F-414 jet engines, including enhanced technology transfer for India’s indigenous aircraft manufacturing capabilities, and an agreement to supply India with advanced drones.
With increased wealth at its disposal, India is currently the fourth largest military spender. Its defence cooperation with the US is multifaceted, and includes a growing number of joint military exercises.
The two countries have signed a number of defence agreements to pave the way for access to each other’s logistics, encrypted communications and geospatial intelligence.
Defence procurements by India from the US are also increasing, and major US-origin platforms are already for India’s use.
Rajnath Singh is on a four-day visit to the US and has met with US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.
Lloyd Austin commended the growing momentum in US-India relations during his meeting with Singh. He emphasised the increased collaboration on various defense matters, including efforts to strengthen critical supply chains.
"We share a vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific, and our defense cooperation continues to grow stronger and stronger," Austin stated.
He also highlighted the increased operational cooperation across all domains, noting India's participation in this summer's Rim of the Pacific, a large-scale exercise led by the US Navy in Hawaii that brought together 29 partner nations. He also underscored the role of the Indian Navy as a significant security provider in the Indian Ocean.
"Indian sailors have assisted mariners in distress and defended global commerce. We are committed to deepening our naval cooperation, enhancing our joint work with unmanned technology, and strengthening undersea domain awareness," Austin said.
Rajnath Singh said that the expanding cooperation covers "all areas of human endeavor".
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| Blogger and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh |
However, as expected in robust ties there are issues also between the two giants.
India has not blocked its trade and investment ties with China.
Washington remains irked over New Delhi’s close relations with Vladimir Putin's Russia. The US need not be happy about the Prime Minister Modi's 'independent stance' on Ukraine and the purchase of Russian oil.
External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar has yet again snubbed the western argument rather convincingly in Kyiv (Ukraine) when he said - "...it's not like there's a political strategy to buy oil. There is an oil strategy to buy oil. There's a market strategy to buy oil".
New Delhi also has relations with both Russia and China in a international forum called BRICS. The grouping also include South Africa and Brazil and all five team up to explore trade in currencies other than the dollar.
The US from time to time echoes India's Sickular brigade and for reasons justified or not do talk about so-called India’s policy of persecuting 'religious minorities'.
The 'Canada front' says there are also issues with regard operatives allegedly deployed to assassinate opponents on foreign soil.
But a former Pakistani foreign secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry points out candidly: "This is not to suggest that the US is having second thoughts about its relationship with India. In fact, it is going out of its way to ignore the Indian leadership’s tendency to assert India’s ‘strategic autonomy’. Although the American ambassador to India was blunt in challenging the use of the term ‘strategic autonomy’, his government did waive the CAATSA (Countering America’s Adversaries through Sanctions Act) for India to let it buy a missile system from Russia".
Senator Marco Rubio has now introduced a bill in Congress calling for treating India like Japan, Israel, South Korea and Nato members, in terms of sharing advanced weaponry with it.
"The bill was blatantly anti-China and also echoed the Indian view of Pakistan," says Chaudhary.
"The US tilt raises deep security concerns for Pakistan as it encourages the Indian leadership to act as a net security provider, ie hegemony, in South Asia.
Washington tends to view Islamabad from the lens of Sino-Pak ties, and thus maintains minimal contact with it.
It goes without stating that India’s relationship with the US has morphed into a strategic partnership, with unprecedented levels of politico-military cooperation.
The primary dynamic behind this upswing is the US competition with China, a rising economic and military power.
The US would like to see India as a counterweight to China, and has engaged it in its Indo-Pacific strategy, the Quad, and similar initiatives that are seemingly aimed at containing the further rise of China.
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