The one wing of the US Government that is reasonably confident of “tangible and positive” results from President Barack Obama’s India visit is the Pentagon — and outgoing Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel is clearly upbeat about it.
Amid the likely renewal of the India-US Defence Framework Agreement and a forward push for the Defence Trade and Technology Initiative (DTTI), Hagel told reporters on Thursday: “I think the President’s trip …may well produce some very tangible and positive results of an effort being made, was made, continues to be made, by this department: not just me.”
Stating that Under Secretary of Defense Frank Kendall is in New Delhi for “closing out some of the things that we think can be delivered”, Hagel commented: “I think it is a unique time for India. It’s a particularly, I think, unique time for this relationship between India and the United States. I am very proud of the progress we’ve made.”
Hagel, who was among the top Obama Cabinet members to visit Delhi to meet with Prime Minister Narendra Modi after the new Government took over, said: “We’ll make more progress. We need to.” He, however, did not go into details of the defence collaboration pursuits under way.
Washington’s community of analysts is cautiously optimistic about the outcome of the Obama trip. Ashley Tellis, noted Indian-American expert on South Asia from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, see the visit as an opportunity to place US-India cooperation on “firmer foundations”.
“Achieving this objective will require reconciling American expectations of exchange-based relations with the Indian desire for a no-obligations partnership,” Tellis writes in a report, titled “Unity in Difference: Overcoming the US-India Divide.”
Noting that the two countries are still some distance away from cementing a strong geopolitical affiliation that advances each other’s vital interests, Tellis writes: “Achieving a genuine strategic partnership between the United States and India is challenging, but it will be a worthwhile investment in the long-term security and relative power positions of both.”
Tellis believes that while Washington should deepen the relationship by “strengthening India’s capabilities without any expectations of clear quid pro quos”, New Delhi should articulate “a geopolitical vision that preserves a special priority for the United States and look for creative ways to demonstrate strategic solidarity with Washington”.
Tanvi Madan, Director of the India Project at the Brookings Institution, notes the challenge thrown by the fact that Obama’s return visit comes less than four months after Modi’s US visit, thereby not allowing enough time to reach concrete agreements in key areas.