US-India Strengthen Defense Ties For Free, Open Indo-Pacific And To 'Balance China's Rise'

The U.S. and India are continuing to strengthen defense ties and fast-track defense technology cooperation and co-production to realize their shared vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific, according to a statement released by the U.S. Department of Defense.

Experts also say that an increasingly hostile China has forced Washington to accelerate its defense relationship with New Delhi.

The U.S. and India have reached a "transformative stage in the relationship" as the Biden administration builds upon its progress in the region, said Siddharth Iyer, the Office of the Secretary of Defense director for South Asia policy, according to a Tuesday statement released by the U.S. Department of Defense.

"This relationship is one of the top priorities for the department," the senior Pentagon official said. "Our belief is that getting the U.S. and India relationship right is not just necessary, it's essential to achieving our strategy in the Indo-Pacific."

Washington and New Delhi have previously stated their shared vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific, as they keep one eye firmly on China, which has been huffing and puffing for more power in the region. The Ukraine conflict has also led to a reshuffling in the world order and a rethinking of global partnerships.

"India's growing role in US Indo-Pacific strategy and the U.S. need to isolate Russia has forced Washington to double down on accelerating the defense relationship with New Delhi," Yogesh Joshi, Research Fellow at Institute of South Asian Studies, National University of Singapore, and co-author of "The US Pivot and Indian Foreign Policy: Asia's Evolving Balance of Power," told International Business Times.

"Washington now understands that without making significant strides in the development of defense platforms and technology transfers, it will not only lose out on India's growing defense market but can also hardly undercut the India-Russia defense relationship," he said. "Moreover, beefing India's defense industrial capability not only helps in strengthening New Delhi's deterrent capabilities vis-a-vis China, the emergence of India as a low-cost exporter of defense equipment to countries in South Asia, South East Asia and Africa can help counter China's influence in the region."

The U.S. and India see common ground in a number of security concerns, with China being the "foremost security challenge," Joshi added.

India has been locked in a border standoff with China in recent years. Furthermore, countries like Taiwan and nations involved in the South China Sea dispute also share a common interest in balancing China's military rise.

The U.S. believes India is the answer to reduce the West's dependence on China and to counter-balance Beijing's economic and political influence in the Indo-Pacific.

"Both the U.S. and India have now come to realize that greater economic interdependence with China is no guarantee for peace with Beijing; instead, it has not only helped China's military might and provided her with her economic tools of coercion," Joshi said. "Politically, India and the U.S. will suffer significantly from China's rising regional influence. China has made significant inroads into South Asia at India's expense. In the Indo-Pacific, too, China aims to replace the U.S. as the hegemonic power. India's rhetorical quest for global multipolarity notwithstanding, New Delhi understands that it first needs to ensure that Asia remains multipolar. Therefore, India and the U.S. must actively balance China's rise."

As the U.S. and India strengthen their defense cooperation, the two sides are also focused on accelerating India's military modernization and advancing its indigenous defense production capabilities.

"Co-production and co-development has been in the bilateral consideration for a while," Vivek Mishra, a fellow with Indian think tank ORF's Strategic Studies Programme, told IBT.

The U.S. "is looking at like-minded partners like India to jointly produce defence systems. This diversifies options, solidifies relationships and bolsters trust. Most of all, when the U.S. is working in the Indo-Pacific region with a country like India, it is also looking at India to be an anchor in the Indian Ocean to balance and manage China," he added.

When it comes to the strategic partnership between India and the U.S., defense has done most of the "heavy lifting in the trajectory" in the last 20 years, Joshi said.

The recent developments in the defense relationship indicate there is now a new energy injected into the India-U.S. strategic partnership.

"From almost zero defense trade until the early 2000s, India has brought over 20 billion dollars of U.S. defense equipment in the last two decades. However, until now, New Delhi has largely been a buyer of US defense equipment," Joshi said.

What began as a builder-buyer relationship is now transforming into an important defense partnership between the two sides as the U.S. and India have found new focus areas, like the Chinese threat, to pivot around. Consequently, the ongoing talks about producing military systems are part of their renewed focus.

"The defense relationship has only recently found its focus. China's behavior in the last five years, particularly since the COVID-19 pandemic, is primarily responsible for such urgency. The June 2020 military clashes between India and China have forced New Delhi into a tighter embrace of the strategic relationship with the US. US has also realize this turn in Indian priorities," Joshi said. "The crisis in Ukraine, the Russia-China entente and China's growing aggressive postures against US allies in the Indo-Pacific have also elevated India in US strategic calculations. More than ever before, Washington has placed its bets on India to counter China in the Indo-Pacific."

"Shared security in this region is tied to the fact that India is emerging as a net security provider in the Indo-Pacific and that strengthens not just India's position but also supports the position of US in this region as the largest resident navy in this region," Mishra added.