Over the last two decades, India and the United States have grown increasingly aligned, with the US providing greater military assistance to India to enhance its capabilities in response to China’s rise. The two countries share more than 3,400 kms of an unsettled, disputed, un-demarcated border, where skirmishes break out regularly and troops are deployed in a No War No Peace environment.
India’s foremost security challenge is clearly an assertive and aggressive China with Doklam and Galwan dispelling any doubts of friendship and cooperation. The clash in Galwan brought all like-minded countries together to realise what the China threat is all about. In fact, ‘co-existence’ which had been the norm following the Border Agreements regarding maintaining ‘Peace and Tranquility’ lay shattered.
By posing a collusive threat with Pakistan and making inroads into Nepal. Myanmar, Sri Lanka Bangladesh and Bhutan the Chinese attempt to contain India both directly and through proxies.
To counter this in the immediate context, India needs intelligence, equipment, logistical support and weapons systems to deter China. Hence, with the US being a leading provider of these requirements it is imperative for India to have closer collaboration with them and in turn to be willing to be part of a wider US deterrence in the Indo-Pacific.
In the medium-term India needs to build its own military – industrial base. Hence while it does have multiple partners in the form of Russia, France and Israel, the US with its technological edge will play a major role in ensuring India’s security concerns. Hence the insistence on co-production which has paid dividends.
In the long term it is equipping India with critical emerging technologies that have military applications and securing their supply chains. This is in the region of semi -conductors, AI, space cooperation, telecom and quantum infrastructure. India has the strengths but the US will help translate these strengths into capabilities.
India needs intelligence, equipment, logistical support and weapons systems to deter China. Hence, with the US being a leading provider of these requirements it is imperative for India to have closer collaboration with them and in turn to be willing to be part of a wider US deterrence in the Indo-Pacific.
US identifies China as its “pacing” challenge, and realises that India is one of the most important partners in its Indo-Pacific policy. While India actively counters China on its Northern border where no doubt it will fight alone, but moral and material support from the US due to its deepening relationship with will help in countering China’s assertiveness and aggression.
Highlighting increased technological cooperation, military coordination and intelligence sharing between the two countries, General Austin has said; “This all matters because we face a rapidly changing world. We see bullying and coercion from the People’s Republic of China.”
When India overtook China and became the world’s most populous nation, in April observers wondered; if India would be the next global superpower as it had outpaced China in economic growth for the past two years, a GDP growth at 6.1 % last quarter, compared with China’s 4.5 %. The statistics seemed promising. However, China’s economy is five times larger, with a GDP of $17.7 trillion versus India’s GDP of $3.2 trillion. As per Graham Allison; India has also “been falling behind in the race to develop science and technology to power economic growth”.
The Global Times that works under the Chinese Communist Party had a cartoon showed that showed an elephant and a panda as boxers in the ring, gloves on, and raring to go at each other, with US, playing the referee albeit from outside the ring, shouting: “Fight. Fight. Fight.” While this may represent a Chinese perspective, India as a country has never had any extra territorial ambitions.
From the security perspective India’s most immediate concern is along the Line of Actual Control, where China has made vast investments in military infrastructure that are trying to push India from former patrolling points and their incursions into Indian territory have led to a deterioration in relations.
US can help India reinforce its own capacity to deter such attacks, which represent a precedent that could also intimidate other countries across the Indo-Pacific region. US defence collaborations and sales will help fill capability gaps including improving border surveillance with drones. A strong India on land can then result in it committing more forces towards the maritime domain which is where the US interest lies.
While speaking at The Shangri La Dialogue on 03 June General Austin said; “The Indo-Pacific is at the heart of American grand strategy”. He then went on to talk about their current alliances and partnerships in the Indo-Pacific which he termed were a ‘profound source of stability’. He also stated that; “at the same time, we’re also weaving closer ties with other partners. I’m especially thinking of India, the world’s largest democracy. We believe that its growing military capability and technological prowess can be a stabilizing force in the region.”
The 2022 US National Defence Strategy called for more technology cooperation with allies and partners, which produced greater technology-sharing mechanisms with Australia through the AUKUS deal as well as with Japan. Now the US has taken unprecedented steps to enhance cooperation with the remaining partner of the QUAD India.
The centrifugal force pushing both countries together are both strategic in the form of the common challenge from China and commercial in the sense that while US has the technology, India is the market to absorb that technology. there is thus a convergence of interests.
The Prime Minister mentioned in his speech at Congress; “The dark clouds of coercion and confrontation are casting their shadow in the Indo Pacific. “The stability of the region has become one of the central concerns of our partnership.”
The truth lies in geopolitics: India, a pillar of stability in the region and with its robust economy and military capabilities is for US the only convincing counterpoint to China in the region; China cannot be contained unless India is befriended.