Important Steps taken for Strategic Cooperation Between India-America

Important Steps taken for Strategic Cooperation Between India-America

Mains Exam: General Studies Paper 2

(International Relation)

June 28, 2023

In News:

  • In recent times, several important agreements have been approved at various levels for strategic cooperation between India and America.
  • According to defence experts, America's growing cooperation with India is based on the strategy of containing China.

Implications of Important strategic cooperation between India and America:

  • It is clear from India's partnership in the state-of-the-art American technology that in the present era, China will have to compete with the American military system with India. Obviously, the challenges for China may now increase. On the other hand, India's progress with America from a strategic point of view is the beginning of a new era for defence relations.

American Foreign Policy:

  • The main goal of American foreign policy is to make such an arrangement that does not affect its national security, so it wants to maintain balance of power in Asia, Africa and Europe. For the past decade, the US has strengthened its Asia-centric foreign policy and India is the main focus of its hopes and strategy.
  • After Obama, Trump, Joe Biden also wants to limit the influence of countries like China, Russia and Iran at any cost to maintain America's global influence. So that America's strategic and political interests can be secured by advancing new partnerships based on checks and balances.
  • Not only is the strategic cooperation between India and America getting stronger, but both the countries are also continuously moving forward on the framework of defence industrial cooperation.
  • Strategic cooperation was also given priority in the recent visit of the Prime Minister.
  • America is supporting the modernization of India's army.
  • America has understood India's compulsions to maintain better relations with Russia due to geographical conditions and now it wants to assure India about security. America's long-term economic and strategic interests are behind this strategy.
  • America understands the importance of India in South Asia and Indo-Pacific region. Due to the instability of Pakistan, it needs allies with political stability to survive in these regions. No country can be better than India in this. For nearly a decade and a half, China's aid diplomacy in Latin America and African countries has posed a deep challenge to US interests.
  • In order to limit China to Asia, Barack Obama also started working on the policy of increasing American partnerships in the Asia-Pacific region. Regarding China's unusual activities in the Indian Ocean, Obama had said that it will now be decided from Asia whether the world will move forward through conflict or cooperation.
  • The US increased military ties with Vietnam, Australia and the Philippines, aided Laos, and strengthened ties with South Korea and Japan.
  • Geographically, the part of the ocean formed by joining parts of the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean is called the Indo-Pacific region. This is the main area of trade traffic and the ports of this route are included in the busiest ports. About 65 percent of the world's population lives in the 48 countries bordering the Indo-Pacific region. Most of these countries are troubled by China's expansionist policies and illegal claims. These include India, Indonesia, Taiwan, Malaysia, Myanmar, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Laos and Vietnam. There is a dispute between China and Japan over the Shenkaku Islands in the East China Sea. Amidst the Sino-Japanese dispute, America is giving open and vocal support to Japan.
  • America is encouraging Japan to have better relations with India and Australia, so that China can be controlled. North Korea is in the northeast of China and Japan is in the east. The US is ready for military action to control China and North Korea in the Korean Peninsula. South Korea has a defense treaty with the US since 1953 and more than 28,000 US troops and warships are regularly stationed in South Korea. In front of America, China is a much bigger rival than Russia and America is mainly looking towards the countries associated with the Indo-Pacific region after Europe to deal with it.
  • China wants to establish its dominance in the world by realizing the 'One Belt One Road' project and the Indian Pacific region is at its center. India has become a natural ally of America due to its security compulsions. The growing partnership between China and Pakistan has increased India's strategic problems. China is a major partner of Pakistan's Gwadar port.
  • Sri Lanka's Hambantota Port, Bangladesh's Chittagong Port, Myanmar's Sittwe Project, along with Chinese occupation of several uninhabited islands of Maldives have increased India's maritime security challenges. The South China Sea is an area between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and is surrounded by China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei and the Philippines. Here China continues to dispute with many ASEAN countries. Till now, due to economic dependence on China, most of the countries have failed to challenge China. Now after the Quad, many countries have started openly opposing China, and this is a positive message for India's strategic security.

Indo-US Defence Agreement:

  • India's Defense Import Policy: In 2017, India used to buy 62 percent of its total arms imports from Russia, which has come down to 45 percent by 2022.
  • In the matter of buying weapons, India's attention is gradually shifting away from Russia towards western countries like America and France.
  • India is buying armed drones worth $3 billion from the US to enhance surveillance along its borders with China and Pakistan.
  • Apart from this, American company General Electric will make fighter jet engine in collaboration with India's government company Hindustan Aeronautics.
  • There is an agreement between India and the US that both countries will protect and share complex technologies. The Heads of State of the two countries have agreed to develop the second generation GE-414 jet engine for the indigenously made Tejas aircraft in India, update light howitzers and joint production of Stryker armored vehicles, most of which are likely to be produced in India.
  • US policy on technology transfer has been very strict, but now its flexible approach towards India reflects US strategic interests. It seems that the US is focusing on modernizing India's forces to deal with China, so that India's dependence on Russia for weapons can be reduced.

Conclusions:

  • Just as America expanded NATO to encircle Russia and signed a security treaty with Russia's neighboring countries, on the same lines, America is working with India on a policy to encircle China. India, Australia, Japan and America are continuously increasing their power in the sea of Asia Pacific, work is going on on the Quad strategy under the leadership of America. It has been named 'Quad Plus' by adding New Zealand, South Korea and Vietnam.

Source- JANSATTA                     -----------------------------