International Relations & Security

Context: Recently Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the US and addressed US Congress for the second time. PM Modi's landmark visit to the US has been very successful with several substantive outcomes relating to semiconductors defence acquisitions, access to critical technology, the Artemis Accord for space cooperation and the resolution of six outstanding trade disputes.  The cooperation in defence, space, and high-tech chip-making shows that  Indo- US relations are deepening and widening.

Reasons for this deepening and widening of relations between the two countries

• The increasing market size of the Indian economy
• The growing influence of the Indian diaspora in American business and politics.
• The need of the hour to contain Chinese aggression.

Trade & Economic Relations

• The rapidly expanding trade and commercial linkages form an important component of the multi-faceted partnership between India and the United States. The U.S. is India’s second-largest trading partner and a major destination for our exports of goods and services. Bilateral trade in goods and services stood at US$ 146 billion in 2019. There are several bilateral dialogue mechanisms in place to discuss issues of mutual interest. These include:
•  India-U.S. Trade Policy Forum: Established in 2005, the Trade Policy Forum serves as the leading bilateral mechanism to discuss trade-related matters.
• India-U.S. Commercial Dialogue: India-U.S. Commercial Dialogue focuses on cooperation in areas such as standards, ease of doing business, travel & tourism, and other important issues of commercial significance.
• India-U.S. CEO Forum: The India-U.S. CEO Forum was established in 2005. The Forum meets on the sidelines of the India-U.S. Commercial Dialogue.
• Information and Communications Technology: A Joint Working Group on ICT was established in 2005 to bring together government and industry to discuss cooperation in the electronics & IT sector.
• India – U.S. Economic and Financial Partnership Dialogue (EFP): India – U.S. Economic and Financial Partnership Dialogue is led by the Finance Minister of India and the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury.

Defence Cooperation

• India-US defence cooperation is based on the “New Framework for India-US Defence Cooperation”, which was renewed for ten years in 2015.
• In 2016 the defence relationship was designated as a Major Defence Partnership (MDP). The MDP recognizes a shared desire to build a comprehensive, enduring and mutually beneficial defence partnership.
• On 30 July 2018, India was moved into the Tier-1 of the US Department of Commerce’s Strategic Trade Authorization license exception.
• The Defense Policy Group (DPG) headed by the Defense Secretary and Under Secretary of Defense (Policy) provides a platform for a comprehensive review of the defense dialogues/mechanisms. The last DPG was held in Washington D.C. in August 2019.
• The 10th Defense Trade and Technology Initiative (DTTI) meeting co-chaired by the Secretary (Defense Production) and Under Secretary of Defense (Acquisition and Sustainment) was held virtually on 15 September 2020.
• Separately, the DTTI Industry Collaboration Forum (DICF) and the DTTI Inter-Agency Task Force (DIATF) met virtually in 2020.
• The 4th Maritime Security Dialogue (MSD) was held in August 2019.
• The other mechanisms include the Military Cooperation Group, the three Executive Steering Groups (ESGs) for military-to-military cooperation, the Joint Technology Group and the Senior Technology Security Group (STSG).
•  Defence procurements from the US have been an area of steady growth in the last decade. India has procured defence items of around US$ 21 billion from the US since 2008.
• The defence procurement activities are monitored through the Defense Production and Procurement Group; the last meeting took place in August 2019.
• Several defence agreements have been signed in recent years. These include
  •  the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Association (August 2016);
  • the Memorandum of Intent between the U.S. Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) and the
  • Indian Defense Innovation Organization – Innovation for Defense Excellence (2018); Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement (September 2018);
  • Industrial Security Agreement (December 2019);
  • Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement (October 2020).
• Bilateral military exercises and defense exchanges are important aspects of deepening military-to-military cooperation.
• The two countries now conduct more bilateral exercises with each other than they do with any other country. In addition to several service-to-service exercises,
  •  A tri-services exercise– Tiger Triumph- was conducted in November 2019
  • Bilateral and regional exercises include Yudh Abhyas (Army)
  • Vajra Prahar (Special Forces)
  • RIMPAC
  • Red Flag
  • In November 2020, Royal Australian Navy joined the U.S.-India-Japan MALABAR Naval Exercise held in the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea
  • Both sides have conducted several PASSEX with the US carrier groups in the Indian Ocean Region

QUAD

• The four Quad partners (India, Japan, United States & Australia) first formed a “Core Group” in 2004, to swiftly mobilize aid during the joint response to the 2004 Tsunami. Since 2017, Quad engagements have increased and intensified.

Counter Terrorism Cooperation

• Cooperation in counter-terrorism has seen considerable progress with information exchange, operational cooperation and sharing of counter-terrorism technology and equipment. India-U.S. Joint Working Group on Counter-Terrorism oversees the expanding CT cooperation.

Security Cooperation

• The Homeland Security Dialogue at the Home Minister/Homeland Secretary level began in May 2011. It has six Joint Working Groups on megacity policing, a global supply chain of transnational crime, countering illicit financing and counterfeiting, cyber security, capacity building and application of S&T in homeland/internal security.

Counter-Narcotics Cooperation

• Both countries set up the Counter-Narcotics Working Group which met for the first time virtually on 24 November 2020.

Cyber Security Cooperation

• The India-US Cyber Framework signed in September 2016, provides for expanding cooperation in the cyber domain.

Education Cooperation

• The United States Educational Foundation in India (USEFI) was set up after a bilateral agreement on education exchange was signed between India and the US on February 2, 1950. In July 2008, India and the US signed a new deal, whereby India and the US committed to fund the Fulbright Program as equal partners.
• India-U.S. Higher Education Dialogue, launched in 2012, laid out a road map for promoting strategic institutional partnerships, deepening collaboration in research and development, fostering partnerships in vocational education and focusing on junior faculty development.

Health Cooperation

• There has been a longstanding collaboration between India and US in the health sector. Scientists from both countries have been working together in several programs to understand important diseases at the basic and clinical levels. Many such programs have been focused on translational research to develop new therapeutics and diagnostics. The collaboration under Vaccine Action Program (VAP) resulted in the development of the ROTAVAC® vaccine against the rotavirus causing severe diarrhoea in children.

Diaspora/People-to-People ties

•  About 4.2 million Indian American/Indian origin people reside in the US. The Indian Americans [3.18 million] constitute the third largest Asian ethnic group in the US.

Bilateral Dialogue Mechanisms

• Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, India-U.S. cooperation witnessed intense engagement under various bilateral dialogue mechanisms in a wide range of areas including defence, security, health, trade, economics, science & technology, energy and people-to-people ties.
• India-U.S. 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue, led by the heads of Foreign and Defense Ministries of India and the U.S., reviews the bilateral ties in defence, strategic and security domains as well as important regional and global issues.

Parliamentary Exchanges

• There have been regular parliamentary exchanges to strengthen ties of friendship and cooperation. In 2019 and early 2020, several Congressional delegations visited India.

Context: Recently, India and United States issued a joint statement which affirmed a vision of the two countries as “among the closest partners in the world — a partnership of democracies looking into the 21st century with hope, ambition, and confidence”. It further affirmed that “no corner of human enterprise is untouched by the partnership between our two great countries, which spans the seas to the stars”.

Following  are the key points from the 58-paragraph Joint Statement, and a ‘Fact Sheet’ issued by the White House:

Technology partnership:

This has eight key elements:

• Strengthening semiconductor supply chains: 
• Micron Technology, with support from the India Semiconductor Mission, will invest more than $800 million toward a new $2.75 billion semiconductor assembly and test facility in India. 

• Applied Materials will build a Semiconductor Centre for Commercialization and Innovation in India to strengthen the two nations’ semiconductor supply chain diversification. 
• And Lam Research will train 60,000 Indian engineers through its “Semiverse Solution” to accelerate India’s semiconductor education and workforce development goals.

Critical Minerals Partnership: 

• India has become the newest partner of the US-led Minerals Security Partnership (MSP) that has been established to accelerate the development of diverse and sustainable critical energy minerals supply chains globally. 
• The MSP, which started in june 2022, has 12 other partner countries, plus the European Union. 
• India’s Epsilon Carbon Limited will invest $650 million in a greenfield electric vehicle battery component factory, which will be the largest ever Indian investment in the US electric vehicle battery industry.

Advanced Telecommunications: 

• India and the US have launched public-private Joint Task Forces on the development and deployment of Open RAN systems and on advanced telecoms research and development. 
• India’s Bharat 6G and the US Next G Alliance will co-lead this public-private research. This work will reduce costs, increase security, and improve resiliency of telecommunication networks.

NASA-ISRO collaboration in space: 

• India has signed the Artemis Accords, joining 26 other countries committed to peaceful, sustainable, and transparent cooperation that will enable exploration of the Moon, Mars, and beyond. 
• NASA will provide advanced training to Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) astronauts with the goal of launching a joint effort to the International Space Station in 2024. 
• NASA and ISRO are also developing a strategic framework for human spaceflight cooperation by the end of 2023.

Quantum, Advanced Computing, and Artificial Intelligence: 

• The two countries have established a Joint Indo-US Quantum Coordination Mechanism to facilitate joint research between the public and private sectors across the two countries.
•  They have also signed an implanting arrangement to support joint research on quantum, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and advanced wireless technologies.

Cutting-edge Research: 

• The US National Science Foundation has announced 35 joint research collaborations with India’s Department of Science and Technology, and signed a new cooperative arrangement with India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology on emerging technologies.

Innovation Handshake:

• To support the US-India Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET), the US-India Commercial Dialogue will launch a new “Innovation Handshake” to connect the startup ecosystems of the two countries.

Fiber Optics Investments: 

• India’s Sterlite Technologies Limited has invested $100 million in the construction of an optical fibre cable manufacturing unit near Columbia, South Carolina, which will facilitate $150 million in annual exports of optical fibre from India.

Defence partnership

The highlight of the next-generation defence partnership is the deal to co-produce GE’s F414 combat aircraft engines in India. 

There are several other initiatives as well. Some of them are:

GE F414 Engine Co-Production: 

• The Joint Statement welcomed the ground breaking proposal by General Electric to jointly produce the F414 jet engine in India. GE and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) have signed a MoU, and a manufacturing licence agreement has been submitted for Congressional Notification. 
• The first-of-its-kind initiative to manufacture F414 engines in India will enable greater transfer of US jet engine technology than ever before.
• General Atomics MQ-9Bs: 
• India intends to procure armed MQ-9B SeaGuardian UAVs. The drones will increase India’s intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities.
• Service and repair of US Navy ships:
• The US Navy has concluded a Master Ship Repair Agreement (MSRA) with Larsen and Toubro Shipyard in Kattupalli (Chennai) and is finalizing agreements with Mazagon Dock Limited (Mumbai) and Goa Shipyard (Goa). These agreements will allow mid-voyage US Navy ships to undergo service and repair at Indian shipyards.

More robust defence cooperation: 

• The two countries advanced steps to operationalize tools to increase defence cooperation. They have resolved to strengthen undersea domain awareness cooperation, and agreed to place three Indian liaison officers in US commands for the first time.
•  The US and India have also begun negotiations for a Security of Supply Arrangement and Reciprocal Defence Procurement Arrangement that will enable the supply of defence goods in the event of unanticipated supply chain disruptions.

• Defence “Innovation Bridge”: 
• The India-US Defence Acceleration Ecosystem (INDUS-X) — a network of university, incubator, corporate, think tank, and private investment stakeholders — was inaugurated on June 21, 2023. This programme will facilitate joint innovation on defence technologies and accelerate the integration of India’s private sector defence industry with the US defence sector.

People-centric efforts

The Joint Statement mentions initiatives on visas and student exchanges. It also refers to the historic aviation deal between Air India and Boeing to acquire more than 200 American-made aircraft, and the efforts to resolve trade issues between the two countries.

Domestic visa renewals: 

• The State Department will launch a pilot this year to adjudicate domestic renewals of certain petition-based temporary work visas, including for Indian nationals, who will no longer be required to leave the country for renewal in eligible categories. 
• This will be implemented for an expanded pool of H1B and L visa holders in 2024, with the aim of broadening the programme to include other eligible categories.
• New consulates:
• The US intends to open new consulates in Bengaluru and Ahmedabad, and India looks forward to opening its consulate in Seattle later this year, and to announcing two new consulates in the US, the Joint Statement said.

Student exchanges and scholarships: 

• The US last year issued a record 125,000 visas to Indian students, and Indians are on track to become the largest foreign student community in the US, with a 20% increase last year alone. 
• India and the US have launched a new Joint Task Force of the Association of American Universities and leading Indian educational institutions, including the IITs. Additional Fulbright-Kalam Climate Fellowships for research, administered by the US-India Educational Fund, will advance cooperation between leading scholars in India and the US on climate change.
•  The US is also enabling up to 100 additional US undergraduate students to study or intern in India via the Benjamin A Gilman International Scholarship Program.

Agreement on cultural property: 

• The US and India are continuing negotiations for a Cultural Property Agreement which would help to prevent illegal trafficking of cultural property from India and enhance cooperation on the protection and lawful exchange of cultural property.

Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific

Under the heading ‘Leading on the Global Stage’, the Joint Statement refers to various strategic initiatives taken by the two countries.

Indo-Pacific and Indian Ocean: 

• The US will join the Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative, a regional initiative inaugurated by Prime Minister Modi in 2015 to promote a safe, secure, and stable maritime domain and promote its conservation and sustainable use. India will continue to participate as an observer in the Partners in the Blue Pacific. 
• The US and India will hold an Indian Ocean Dialogue with experts and stakeholders from across the Indian Ocean region to promote greater regional coordination.

Sustainable development

• Energy collaboration: 
• India and the US will continue to work together to achieve their national climate and energy goals. The US welcomes India’s decision to co-lead the multilateral Hydrogen Breakthrough Agenda to make affordable renewable and low carbon hydrogen globally available by 2030.

• Green technology: 

• The Joint Statement mentioned the two countries’ commitment to creating innovative investment platforms that will lower the cost of capital and attract international private finance at scale for renewable energy, battery storage, and emerging green technology projects in India. 
• It also refers to initiatives taken to decarbonise the transportation sector, and the Global Biofuels Alliance, which has been established by India with the US as a founding member.

Initiatives on health

Fighting cancer and diabetes: 

• The US National Cancer Institute will foster collaboration between US and Indian scientists through two new grants to develop an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-enabled digital pathology platform, which will be utilized for cancer diagnosis, prognosis, and prediction of therapeutic benefit, as well as AI-based automated radiotherapy treatment for cancers of the cervix, head, and neck.
• The US National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases will also sign an agreement with the Indian Council of Medical Research to further basic, clinical, and translational research on diabetes. 
• The United States and India will hold a US-India Cancer Dialogue, hosted by President Biden’s Cancer Moonshot, to bring experts together from both countries to identify concrete areas of collaboration to accelerate the rate of progress against cancer.

Fighting terror and drugs

• It reiterated the call for concerted action against all UN-listed terrorist groups including al-Qa’ida, ISIS/Daesh, Lashkar e-Tayyeba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), and Hizb-ul-Mujhahideen.
• They strongly condemned cross-border terrorism, the use of terrorist proxies and called on Pakistan to take immediate action to ensure that no territory under its control is used for launching terrorist attacks. They called for the perpetrators of the 26/11 Mumbai and Pathankot attacks to be brought to justice.
• The Joint Statement also said that the US and India are developing a broader and deeper bilateral counternarcotics framework to disrupt the illicit production and international trafficking of illicit drugs, including synthetic drugs, fentanyl, and precursors.

Context: In the recent visit of India's PM Mr Narendra Modi is going to take the strategic partnership of India with the next level.

Major points of India US Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership

Regular Bilateral visits: The political connect at the leadership level, a high level of and very intense level of political exchanges has been one of the key features of relationship between Indian and the USA

Burgeoning Economic partnership: The second key component, which has been a very strong pillar of relationship has been strong trade and investment partnership. If one looks at the quantum of bilateral trade, touching close to $200 billion, or the strong flow of capital on both sides. 

Technology Cooperation: The technology component and technology component interfaces in the telecom area, in the space area, in the manufacturing domain. Along with it a lot of triangulation of technology, manufacturing and investment can be identified as the next pillar of strong ties between India and US.

Strong Diaspora connect: Another key component, always a very vibrant, robust and dynamic component of relationship and a strong driver of the relationship is also the Diaspora and interface with Diaspora. 

India has close to 5 million strong Indian Diaspora in the US, which contributes enormously and very richly to the growth, the substance and the strength of the relationship.

Emerging Areas of cooperation: There is deepening of partnership, skilling and mobility as the whole new domain of renewable energy, health, environment and green partnership  which has emerged as the new area of cooperation. 

During the recent official state visit of PM Modi to US, the two leaders have reiterated the recent visit and concluded agreements as a ‘new stage’ in the India US relationship.

• India and the U.S.announced a number of agreements on defence cooperation, critical and emerging technologies, health, environment, visas and space including a deal which could pave the way for an unprecedented transfer of jet engine technology.
• The leaders also highlighted that both countries share democratic values, while addressing a gathering of officials and thousands of members of the Indian-American diaspora.
• In the field of defence partnership in a recent move General Electric and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited has signed a big-ticket MoU to jointly produce GE 414 jet engines in India for the Tejas Mk2 light combat aircraft. This comes as significant development as the US has been able to overcome bureaucratic roadblocks.
• The Defence Ministries of the two countries also launched the inaugural session of an innovation platform INDUS-X which was organised by the U.S. India Business Council, to foster defence industrial collaboration.
• In space cooperation, India is signing on to a framework of 25 countries for space exploration and cooperation. The two countries have agreed on a mission to the International Space Station in 2024.
• The leaders appreciated the rapid progress made through initiatives such as the Critical and Emerging Technologies(iCET) and the keen desire to elevate strategic technology collaborations to build resilient supply chains. They welcomed the deepening cooperation in critical minerals and space sectors.

• The big private sector deals coinciding with the visit was U.S. semiconductor and chip maker Micron Technology, Inc’s announcement that it would invest up to $825 million in a new chip assembly and test facility in Gujarat, which would be bolstered by investment from the Indian and Gujarat governments, totalling $2.75 billion.
• The leaders reiterated their commitment to combating climate change and achieving a sustainable future and discussed ways to promote clean and renewable energy and collaborate on climate initiatives.
• The U.S. also announced a pilot programme to renew visas domestically which means that applicants do not have to travel outside the U.S. to get their renewal stamps for certain petition-based temporary workers. 

• This programme could expand to cover H1B and L-1 skilled visas by 2024 and to other categories eventually. 
• The U.S also announced that it will also open two new consulates in Bengaluru and Ahmedabad to further give boost to people to people relationship.

Indian PM Addresses US congress

• Indian Prime Minister also addressed a Joint Sitting of the US Congress and  spoke about the rapid strides made in India-US bilateral relations and shared his vision for elevating bilateral ties.

• PM also outlined the enormous progress made by India and the opportunities that it presents for the world. 
• Prime Minister also conveyed his appreciation for the long-standing and strong bipartisan support in the US Congress for the deepening of India-US relations.

Indian PM also attended the event, "India and USA: Skilling for Future”

• The event focused on workforce redevelopment across higher education institutions to expand and enhance access to quality education across society.
• Indian Prime Minister presented 5-point proposals for energising India-USA collaboration in education and research sector, as follows:

• Integrated approach bringing together government, industry and academia.
• Encouraging exchange of Teachers & Students.
• Organising Hackathons on various subjects between the two countries.
• Mutual recognition of vocational skills qualifications.
• Encouraging visits of people associated with education and research.

To read more about contemporary India USA relations visit:

Contemporary Relations INDIA – USA