India Emerging as Top Defence and Strategic Partner of US

By Little India Desk | September 15, 2017

Indian military purchases from the United States went from zero to $15 billion in the last 10 years, Alice Wells, the Acting Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs in the United States, said. The United States hopes to get a major share of the $30 billion that India plans to spend over the next seven years as part of the country’s military modernization, she added.

“Now we want to build on that military partnership. India over the next seven years is projected to spend $30 billion in military modernization. Our companies, like Boeing and Lockheed, with the F-18s and the F-16s, are natural competitors. It would deeply enhance our interoperability with India,” said Wells while presenting a testimony before the South Asia panel of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

US Affinity Towards India

The United States considers India a major defense and strategic partner, said Wells, adding that New Delhi has a huge role to play in bringing peace and stability in the subcontinent.

“We obviously strongly support a prosperous India that plays a leading global role, both China and India are leading powers, but our relationship with India really stands on its own,” she said, Dawn reported. “And it stands on its own because it’s based on democratic values, on close political and economic ties.”

Wells also spoke about the huge Malabar military exercise between the United States, India and Japan involving 10,000 personnel and the countries’ largest carriers. “With India as a major defence partner, we are able to now offer advanced technologies,” she said.

Thee tie-up with India will also benefit US companies, she asserted, hinting that Boeing alone is planning to sell 2,000 commercial aircraft in South Asia over 20 years, and the largest buyer will be India.

Indian Middle Class and US Export

The increased living standards in India will drive demand for US products, services and energy in the country, she pointed out.

“Emerging middle-class consumers will have new demands in areas such as education, health care, and financial and professional services — fields where US companies have much to offer. And US agricultural technology and projects can contribute to a diversified nutritional profile that can do much to advance public health in India,” Wells said, during an address to a gathering of the US India Business Council, the Financial Express reported.

“Rising standards of living in India will drive demand for US products, services, and energy that can help Indians live healthier and more productive lives. And that will, in turn, create more growth in India,” she added.

Wells also made it clear that trade relationship between the two countries should bring prosperity in both the countries and that it should be fair and reciprocal.