Defence at the core of new India-US bilateral
The highlights from Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar's recently concluded trip to the US are testimony to how defence cooperation has been at the crux of the transformative process driving the India-US bilateral in these past two decades or so. Apart from the long and extensive discussions that he had with his American counterpart Ashton Carter, in Washington, DC, Mr Parrikar announced India's participation, alongside the US, in the Rim-of-the-Pacific naval exercise and the Red Flag air-to-air combat exercise next year. On his part, Mr Carter announced that the US will be participating in the Indian Navy's International Fleet Review at Visakhapatnam in February next year. These will be in addition to the annual Indo-US Malabar naval exercise. India already conducts more military exercises with the US than with any other country — and these make for the building blocks of any strong defence relationship. The other big development came from the defence technology transfer arena — which can be considered to be the next level in the strengthening of a defence relationship. Herein, the US updated its policy on gas-turbine engine technology transfer to India so as to expand cooperation in the production and design of sensitive jet engine components. Finally, the fact that Mr Parrikar began his tour with a visit to the US Pacific Command headquarter in Hawaii, the first Indian Defence Minister to do so, and ended it with an inspection of one of America's top nuclear powered aircraft carriers, USS Dwight D Eisenhower, a rare privilege for any foreign leaders, was the cherry on the cake. It generated heartwarming visuals of how significantly the India-US relationship has changed — moving from decades of mistrust and acrimony to a genuine partnership now that stands on shared values and common interests.
To measure the actual success of Mr Parrikar's visit, however, we need to look at two factors: Progress in defence trade and technology transfers in the short to medium term; and an upgradation of the overall India-US defence cooperation strategy wherein the US actively enables India to maintain an operational military advantage in the Indo-Pacific. In the first case, there has been consistent, if not rapid, progress, particularly since the Modi Government came to power in May 2014. Stronger defence ties with the US fit perfectly with the BJP-led NDA Government's flagship Make in India plan; and also the current dispensation in Delhi doesn't have the ideological baggage of the past that had undercut India-US ties during the UPA regime (despite the historic nuclear deal and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's personal commitment to the bilateral). In the second case — of the US supporting India's emergence as the region's primary military power and security provider — there will, of course, be resistance from competing American policy imperatives with regard to Pakistan and China. But over time, it is in this direction that India and the US should be heading.