India is much more important to the US Department of Defense than any other department in the US federal government, including the White House.
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The Guardian Helicopters AH-64E (I) were recently inducted into the Indian Air Force on September 3, 2019. The combat helicopters were tested at the Air Force's Hindon base near Delhi. These combat helicopters look like huge tanks in the air. We received the helicopters from the United States on July 27 and 30, well ahead of schedule. In 2015, India and the United States signed a 1.4 billion deal for 22 Apache Guardian helicopters. Importantly, while fears are being expressed about India-US relations, we have got these helicopters.
In fact, several rounds of trade talks over the agreement had failed. Not only that, but in the ego of answering like that, the price of helicopters also went up. These helicopters were to be delivered to India in 2020. So, on the other hand, the US was constantly warning India over its decision to buy S-400 missiles from Russia. At the same time, Trump, who expects Pakistan's cooperation in the US-Taliban talks, has brought the Kashmir issue to the international stage to some extent. The effects of these developments have had a profound effect on Indo-US relations.
However, the fact that the US has given its helicopters to India in such a situation is an indication that the US-India defense relationship is getting stronger. This is actually a big event. Because the Pentagon has its own policies that have little or no connection to Trump's political agenda.
What does the Pentagon think about US-India relations ?
The Trump administration's "America First" policy is aimed at gaining undisputed power in the economic and military spheres . It is clear that multilateralism has no place in their policy. Moreover, this policy also shows that the United States has completely dissolved the principle of nation-building adopted by its previous administration on the basis of democracy.
At the strategic level, the Trump administration has focused on China, which seeks to undermine US dominance. That is why they have to take a double role . This is why the Trump administration seems to have adopted the concept of neo-liberal policy of the old Republican Party, setting aside its populist role of nationalism.
The role played by the US Department of Defense is noteworthy here. No matter how much the administration took a stand, they maintained the demand for a free and open Indo-Pacific (FOIP). Calling the region his "Priority Theater", he has consistently emphasized that the region is important to him. In addition, the Department of Defense underlined the importance of local pluralism, noting in the June 2019 Indo-Pacific Policy Report that "there is a need to build a viable alliance with a number of partners and allies." In fact, all of their actions go against Trump's policy.
In this situation, of course, given the weight the Pentagon has weighed on India, relations between the United States and India are running smoothly in terms of military interaction.
India is far more important to the US Department of Defense than any other department in the US federal government, including the White House. In other words, the purpose of all this is to bring India to the fore in one way or another as an acceptable guide at the local level in the region. If India emerges as a country to play such a role, some US thinkers say, the US will be able to carry out its earlier plans to naval deployment simultaneously in the South and East China Seas.
Considering all of this, it seems that even though Trump's policies appear to be more contradictory than those of previous administrations, given the US Department of Defense's strategy, the policies are still the same. Awareness of the economic trade opportunities available in India as an arms market is also evident in these policies. In a sense, the way the US Department of Defense is thinking about India, and the way the Trump administration is trying to promote US ingenuity by increasing arms exports. In a sense, India is a good country for both.
Indo-US uninterrupted military journey
The Carter mantra, known as Ashton Carter, former US Secretary of Defense, is an unwritten US policy on India. The Carter mantra calls for the two countries to focus on political-strategic relations, as well as to find a way to overcome trade differences, no matter how small, in a small but positive way.
In fact, during Trump's tenure, the Carter mantra has often been twisted. Whether it is the issue of India's pricing for imports of medical products, or the political-policy discrepancy between India and Iran's historically close oil trade, are examples of this. Of course, given the weight the Pentagon has put on India's shoulders in this situation, US-India relations continue unhindered in terms of military interaction.
In 2016, in the last months of the Obama administration, the United States and India signed the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA). The agreement was a revised version of the Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement (ACSA) with India at the center. The agreement sets out the basic terms and procedures for communicative cooperation, supply and services between the military forces of India and the United States.
During the Trump administration's first year in office, the United States and India signed the Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA). Under this, a Communication and Information on Security Memorandum of Agreement (CISMOA) was also signed with India at the center. The aim was to provide India with state-of-the-art security systems to enable it to use its military equipment in Native America.
Reports from later in the year suggest that US and Indian security officials were working to resolve differences over the US-India Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement (BECA) on security cooperation between the two countries so that both countries could use each other's territory. Are.
India is expected to be active in the Indo-Pacific region
One of the reasons for this is the role that India has played in promoting defense cooperation, and that is, in recent years, India has been participating in all-round annual military co-operation "more joint military exercises, meetings and security dialogues with the US than any other country." Importantly, the number of these other countries is 50. In fact, all these efforts are part of India's efforts to gradually adapt to the Indian Ocean and the western part of the Pacific Ocean.
The fruits of all these efforts were seen this year. In May this year, the Indian Navy, the United States, the Philippines and the Japanese Navy participated in a joint sailor mission in the South China Sea.
INS Kolkata is the destroyer of India and INS. Shakti is a fuel tanker, a Japanese helicopter carrier JMSDF. Izumo and anti-missile JMSDF Murasame, Philippine warship Frigate BRP. Andres Bonifacio and the U.S. Navy's U.S.S. Williamsp. The Arleigh Burke Class Destroyer was part of the convoy. The change of leadership on board is known to be such an important exercise. "
The United States needs to understand the other side of the motive behind trying to make India an important and acceptable country in the Indo-Pacific region. If India's capacity increases, the US can become a major supplier of goods in the region. Importantly, the growing defense trade between India and the United States is at the heart of it all.
This year alone, the 777 Large Aircraft Infrared Countermeasures Self Protection Suites, equipped with Self-Defense Infrared Surveillance System, the lethal SIG. The United States has exported 716 rifles, anti-submarine anti-submarine MH-60 helicopters, their surface-to-air missile system-2, and maritime defense drones to the United States. Gradually, defense trade between the US and India has reached US18 billion. As a result of this trade, India has the world's fastest growing C.I. The C-17 Globemaster and the P-8 Poseidon are fighter jets.
In such a scenario, uncertainty and tensions often arise in the multifaceted relationship between the United States and India
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