Summary of Strategic Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific: US and Indian Perspectives (by ORF and Hoover Institution)
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"Strategic Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific: US and Indian Perspectives," a collaborative effort by the Observer Research Foundation (ORF) and the Hoover Institution, explores the evolving strategic relationship between the United States and India in the Indo-Pacific region. The report delves into k...
Strategic Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific: US and Indian Perspectives
(by ORF and Hoover Institution)
Ch.1 US-India Security Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific: Locating Key Issues
(Harsh V Pant and Vivek Mishra)
Indo-Pacific emerged as metageography sitting at the heart of ongoing churn in
global geopolitics. Vision of a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific forged a common
regional purpose between the two countries, which is directly or indirectly rooted in security.
For both, their regional concerns, including open sea lines of communication, piracy,
trafficking of all kinds, free and fair trade and investment and above all favorable balance of
power are all undergirded by elements of security. In providing autonomy and options to
regional countries, the US and India are strong partners.
Challenges - Competition between the region’s major powers, China’s engagement with
other countries in Indo- Pacific, ensuring favorable balance of power in the region, India’s
political and economic stability, its status as credible responsible nuclear power, integrated
deterrence, US strategy falls short on institutional mechanisms to address regional
challenges in comprehensive manner.
Possibilities for cooperation - Western Indian Ocean could emerge as a new area of
opportunity for both US and India in Indo-Pacific.
4 ways in which this subregion could emerge as a theater of opportunity-
1. Full spectrum operationalization of foundational strategic agreements could lead to
enhanced jointness and coordination, mutual training, better maritime domain
awareness and sharing of information in entire Indo- Pacific
2. Can work together to offset regional threats
3. India’s decision to join CMF (uphold rules based order in Indo- Pacific), 2+2
framework, QUAD working groups on climate change, infrastructure, space, critical
and emerging technologies have further cemented partnership. Involving European
partners can bolster region’s free, open and inclusive credentials. Should develop
more institutional mechanisms to guard against possible problems in the future.
Concept of SAGAR by India.
4. Evolution of technology brings new opportunities for US and India in Indo- Pacific.
iCET – intended as outcome oriented step in bilateral cooperation. US- India defence
technology and trade initiative (DTTI) is framework that can leverage private industry
partnership to affect regional security. Bypass bureaucratic hurdles and red tape that
frequently impede technological collaboration between US and India.
,Ch.2 US-India Security Relations in the Indo-Pacific
(Sumit Ganguly and S Paul Kapur)
Context of Security Cooperation:
1. Both India and the United States desire a “free and open” Indo-Pacific region,
governed by liberal principles including open commons, deliberative dispute
resolution, market economies, and the rule of law.
2. Threat to yield a Sino-centric, authoritarian Indo-Pacific region rather than one that
was free and open.
3. Both the United States and India had an overriding interest in avoiding such an
outcome.
4. Significantly, this did not require them to exclude China from the region. Their goal
was more modest: to prevent China from exerting hegemony over it.
Past and Present of Indo-US Cooperation:
1. During the Cold War, US-India relations had been characterized by rancor and
mistrust, with India viewing the United States as a neocolonial power and the US
viewing India as a de facto ally of the Soviet Union.
2. With the Cold War’s end and the urgent need to balance rising Chinese power,
however, the two countries overcame their mutual suspicions and began to forge a
strategic partnership.
3. Today,the cooperation has resulted in the two countries’ defense trade skyrocketing
from zero in 2005 to well over $20 billion today. Increasing US openness to sharing
technology, as evidenced by the US designation of India as a Major Defense Partner,
and affording India Tier 1 Strategic Trade Authorization, has facilitated these efforts.
4. Other measures include expanded joint military training, the signing of so-called
foundational agreements pertaining to logistics and geospatial information sharing,
and intelligence cooperation.
Way Ahead:
1. Continue to focus on military capacity building. Future efforts should focus on the
need to move beyond a buyer-seller relationship, and work toward codevelopment
and co production in India. These efforts could particularly emphasize the maritime
domain, which will be a primary locus of Indo-Pacific competition and which has
traditionally not been a focus of Indian strategic attention. Efforts also could include
an “aspirational” system of high strategic importance that captures the imagination,
symbolizes US-India cooperation, and provides momentum to other aspects of the
relationship. For example, the two countries could work toward coproduction of F-21s
or F-18s to help replace India’s aging fleet of fighter aircraft.
2. Expand joint strategic efforts into new areas. They could work together on
friendshoring (locating critical nodes of supply chains in trusted countries—is
emerging as a potential means of enhancing supply-chain security) efforts, which
would move production related to sensitive items such as lithium batteries, drones,
artificial intelligence components, and semiconductors from unreliable or normatively
problematic countries to India.
3. Base the US-India relationship on shared strategic interests, rather than on moral
convergence. Moral issues have been a long-standing source of friction between the
, two countries. During the Cold War, each side routinely harped on the other’s
perceived ethical shortcomings. India, for example, upbraided the United States for
its prosecution of the Vietnam War, while the US criticized India’s closeness to the
Soviet Union. Today, disagreements over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine roil the
relationship. US officials have publicly scolded India for failing to condemn the
invasion and buying discounted Russian oil, and Indian officials have responded with
accusations of hypocrisy.
4. The United States must avoid the temptation to reprise its alignment with Pakistan.
The Trump administration distanced the US from Pakistan in light of long-standing
Pakistani support for terrorism. But the United States now appears to be reversing
course, seeking an “ever stronger” relationship through a $450 million sustainment
package for Pakistani F-16
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