U.S. to Strengthen Ties with India

Context- The U.S. is making investments in defence ties with India in order to uphold a favourable balance of power in the Indo-Pacific.

 Key Highlights 

• It indicates that strengthening ties with India is one of the key factors for the U.S. to address the pacing challenge from China.
• Earlier this month, the U.S. government launched the inaugural technology initiative with India, including in-depth discussions about opportunities for co-production of major defence platforms,
• The U.S. is also making significant investments in our defence ties with India to uphold a favourable balance of power in the Indo-Pacific region.
• The U.S. has also invested in the Quad partnership with India, Australia, and Japan.
• The U.S. is aligning with like-minded partners around the world to strengthen our shared interests and values – of democracy, openness, and fairness – and to address the challenges posed by the People’s Republic of China.

Challenges posed by China

• According to a Senator of the U.S., China, for decades, has been active and aggressive in expanding its claims of sovereignty and territory
• In the last 60 years, China almost risked a nuclear conflict with the Soviet Union, fought a war with Vietnam and also engaged in multiple bloody skirmishes with India as recently as last month to assert their territorial claim.
• China continues to make egregious territorial claims in the South and East China Sea, all in the name of expanding the reach of the Chinese Communist Party.
• According to the Chairwoman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Indo-Pacific, India and other countries have been the target of surveillance balloons from China.
• The U.S. claimed that the surveillance balloon was part of a larger programme by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) that has collected information on military assets in Indo-Pacific countries such as Taiwan, Japan, India and the Philippines.

Role of India 

• India is a significant partner on security issues and in order to cooperate to preserve maritime security and counter Chinese influence in South Asia and Southeast Asia.

In order to achieve this, USA aims 

• To support India’s desire to be a leading global power, highlighting its compatibility with the USA, Japanese and Australian aim of the Indo-Pacific.
• To work with India towards domestic economic reform.
• To intensify defence cooperation and interoperability.
• To provide major leadership roles for India in the East Asia Summit and ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus.
• And to support India’s Act East policy.

India- U.S. Defence Relations 

• India-US defence cooperation is specifically based on the “New Framework for India-US Defence Cooperation”, which was renewed for a period of ten years in 2015.
• A strong US-India defence partnership is based on shared democratic values and it is critical to advancing United States interests in the Indo-Pacific region.
• Defence procurements from the US have been an area of constant growth in the last decade.
• India has so far obtained defence items of around US$ 21 billion from the US since 2008.
• Defence agreements include The Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement, or BECA (2020) on sharing sensitive satellite data and allowing strategic partners of the US in order to access a range of sensitive geospatial and aeronautical data that is useful for military actions. 
• Other agreements include the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Association (LEMOA 2016) and COMCASA.
• Both India and the US set up a Counter-Narcotics Working Group which met for the first time virtually on 24 November 2020.
• Also India-US Cyber Framework signed in 2016, provides for expanding cooperation in the cyber domain.
• India-US joint military exercises are such as Yudh Abhyas, Vajra Prahar, Cope India, MALABAR, Red Flag and RIMPAC.

Download as PDF