The lure of India’s ongoing military modernisation is simply too strong to resist. No one would covet it more than the world’s biggest weapons trader, which already sells $20 billion worth to India and has also put the F-35 fifth-generation stealth fighter aircraft on the counter.
Just for the record, the United States sells its weapons to 107 countries in the world. Buoyed by the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, the US defence industry clocked a record $81 billion sale of weapons through its military sales programme in 2023.
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Therefore, despite the frost that has settled on the bilateral relations between India and the US, the American effort to continue its military relationship with India continues unabated, particularly when a modernisation effort and the ‘Atmanirbharta’ (self-reliance) in defence are running on parallel tracks.
India has also embarked on a conscious effort to diversify its sources of military platforms, systems and assets. It means weaning away from the predominantly Russian arsenal and the US sources.
The fact that a ‘landmark’ strategic deal, including the military aspect, has just been inked with the European Union (EU) adds yet another dimension to India’s buying basket.
That is the background of a five-day-long (January 24–28) visit of a bipartisan Congressional delegation to India.
India already fields sufficient military hardware from the US, which includes the AH-64 Apache (attack helicopters), CH-47 Chinook (transporter), C-130J and C-17 Globemaster III (heavy transport planes), P-8I Neptune (for long-range maritime reconnaissance), AGM-114 Hellfire, Stinger, Javelin missiles, besides the leased MQ-9A Reaper, M777 artillery guns and a range of ammunition.
The US delegation, led by House Armed Services Committee Chairman Michael Rogers and Ranking Member Adam Smith, among others, focused on “sustained US engagement to advance defence cooperation and deepen strategic coordination with India”.
Besides meeting Foreign Minister S Jaishankar and Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh, the delegation deliberated with several leaders of India’s private defence industry.
A US embassy official release said, “The delegation’s meetings focused on expanding defence cooperation, accelerating defence technology collaboration, and identifying opportunities to enhance co-development and co-production between the United States and India in support of shared security objectives.”
Besides the 2+2 mechanism at the ministerial (defence and foreign ministers) level, several bilateral dialogue mechanisms exist between the two countries, like the Defence Production and Procurement Group (DPPG), Joint Technology Group (JTG), bilateral Maritime Security Dialogue, Industrial Security Summit and the Defence Trade and Technology Initiative.
Important defence agreements which provide the framework for interaction and cooperation are: Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (2016); Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement (2018); Industrial Security Agreement (2019); Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement (2020), Memorandum of Intent for Defence Innovation Cooperation (2018); and Security of Supplies Arrangement (SOSA).
Therefore, despite the chill, the India-US military collaboration with its entire range of institutional paraphernalia and embedment is too big to peter out in the near future.