Washington: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Donald Trump have expressed their “unwavering commitment to a dynamic defence partnership spanning multiple domains”, with India expressing its willingness to buy more American equipment and engage in nuclear commerce and the US expressing openness to lift tech restrictions that have inhibited sales.
This commitment comes in a year when both countries are set to announce a new ten-year framework for the US-India major defence partnership. Each such framework in the last two decades has been accompanied by a major qualitative and quantitative deepening of defence ties.
In his remarks at a joint press conference with President Donald Trump, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the US had a key role in Indian defence preparedness, new technologies and equipments will enhance Indian capacities and as trusted strategic partners, both countries would engage in joint development, joint production and transfer of technology. Trump said that India would buy “billions of dollars” of US equipment.
What India has bought, what it will buy
The segment on defence in the joint statement acknowledges India’s acquisitions of American platforms that Trump wants to see India do more. “The leaders welcomed the significant integration of US-origin defence items into India’s inventory to date, including C-130J Super Hercules, C17 -Globemaster III, P-8I Poseidon aircraft; CH-47F Chinooks, MH-60R Seahawks, and AH-64E Apaches; Harpoon anti-ship missiles; M777 howitzers; and MQ-9Bs.”
Both leaders then agreed that the US would expand defence sales and co-production with India to strengthen interoperability and defence industrial cooperation.
Trump and Modi announced plans to pursue in 2025 itself new procurements and co-production arrangements for Javelin Anti-Tank Guided Missiles and Stryker Infantry Combat Vehicles in India “to rapidly meet India’s defence requirements”. “They also expect completion of procurement for six additional P-8I Maritime Patrol aircraft to enhance India’s maritime surveillance reach in the Indian Ocean Region following agreement on sale terms,” the statement said.
The tech transfer potential, F35 riddle
The joint statement recognised India’s status as a major defence partner with Strategic Trade Authorisation-1 (STA-1) and as a key Quad partner. Based on this, it said that the US and India will review their respective arms transfer regulations, including International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), “in order to streamline defence trade, technology exchange and maintenance, spare supplies and in-country repair and overhaul of US-provided defence systems”.
A person familiar with the development said that this was a significant breakthrough, and the US had shown higher willingness than the past in moving towards a more flexible tech transfer regime. But while export control regulations from the US side are the key obstacle to deeper defence exchanges, serving and retired American officials have also pointed out that India’s tech security and export control regimes also need a close examination because of India’s ties with US adversaries including Russia.
The possible technology relaxations under the Trump administration was also visible in the section on tech cooperation within the newly branded mechanism of TRUST. The statement said, “The leaders determined that their governments redouble efforts to address export controls, enhance high technology commerce, and reduce barriers to technology transfer between our two countries, while addressing technology security.”
But in the case of defence, tech flexibility is linked to acquisitions. And the statement hinted at that. “The leaders pledged to accelerate defence technology cooperation across space, air defence, missile, maritime and undersea technologies, with the US announcing a review of its policy on releasing fifth generation fighters and undersea systems to India,” the statement said.
Also Read: TRUST replaces iCET: New brand, old spirit on tech partnership
This assumes significance because these have been denied to India in the past, and the reference to fifth generation fighters came up in Trump’s remarks in the press conference when he specifically said that the US was “paving the way to ultimately provide India with F35”.
When asked at a press conference later if India had decided on buying F35s, foreign secretary Vikram Misri pointed out that platforms are acquired usually through a process with the floating of a request for proposal and then responses to it are evaluated. “With regard to acquisition of advanced aviation platform, that hasn’t started.”
After having signed the foundational agreements and then the Security of Supply Agreement last year, the leaders also called for opening negotiations this year for a Reciprocal Defense Procurement (RDP) agreement “to better align their procurement systems and enable the reciprocal supply of defence goods and services”.
Autonomous systems and military coordination
India and the US also announced a new initiative, the Autonomous Systems Industry Alliance (ASIA), “to scale industry partnerships and production in the Indo-Pacific”.
“The leaders welcomed a new partnership between Anduril Industries and Mahindra Group on advanced autonomous technologies to co-develop and co-produce state-of-the-art maritime systems and advanced AI-enabled counter Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) to strengthen regional security, and between L3 Harris and Bharat Electronics for co-development of active towed array systems.”
And finally, Trump and Modi agreed to elevate their military cooperation across air, land, sea, space, and cyberspace “through enhanced training, exercises, and operations, incorporating the latest technologies”. They also welcomed the Tiger Triumph tri-service exercise “with larger scale and complexity” to be hosted in India.
In what may mark the beginning of a new level of cooperation in the Indo-Pacific, Trump and Modi also agreed to break new ground “to support and sustain the overseas deployments” of the US and Indian militaries in the Indo-Pacific, “including enhanced logistics and intelligence sharing, as well as arrangements to improve force mobility for joint humanitarian and disaster relief operations along with other exchanges and security cooperation engagements”.
In the last two decades, India has bought more US equipment than it ever did in history. Indian and US forces work together in ways that they have never done in history. And this has spanned administrations in US and governments in India. It has required Delhi to be more open and shed the baggage of history, as Modi put it in a speech to the US Congress, and it has required Washington DC to be more trusting and flexible and adaptable to friends who are not allies. The Trump-Modi statement shows that this is likely to continue and intensify in new forms and ways in the next decade and beyond.