A top United States administration official has said that India is a “great power”, it has unique security concerns, it seeks a relationship of respect and equality with the US, and on that basis, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is willing to elevate the India-US relationship into “fundamentally new territory”. The official indicated the US is committed to advancing the India-US relationship on these terms, saying that the partnership is poised at a unique moment with shared purpose and goodwill.
The senior official, who closely works on Indo-Pacific issues, also said that China’s border incursions have had a deep impact on India’s strategic thought, and New Delhi and Washington share concerns and assessments on Beijing’s provocative actions.
The US also believes that India is deeply concerned about Russia’s actions in Ukraine and is seeking to wean itself away from dependence on Moscow. The official also laid out the accomplishments of the administration’s Indo-Pacific strategy and areas where work is in progress.
India’s place in the US vision
India and the US are at a unique juncture, where “farsighted strategists” on both sides recognise that there is potential to take the relationship to the next level, “the proverbial escape velocity”, the official told HT.
“We are rapidly building areas of common purpose in technology, increasingly on military engagement. We have worked closely with Indian partners on information sharing with respect to tense border areas. We have worked on people to people exchanges. There is a recognition that the US-India relationship is of critical importance. If I had to choose one country that is the most important for the US to develop and build a consequential, multifaceted relationship for the 21st century, that country would be India.”
To do this, the official said that the US must recognise that India is a “great power that seeks a relationship of respect and equality”.
“They are not looking to become a secondary player. They have their own security interests, many of which align with the US but are also unique. They want a careful, respectful, and strategic engagement with Washington. Under those conditions, PM Modi and his team are prepared to launch the US-India relationship into fundamentally new territory. And that’s what we are committed to doing.”
The official said that the people-to-people ties between India and the US were a significant driving force, helped by a substantial Indian American diaspora.
At the same time, the official acknowledged the periods of differences.
“There have been times in the past where through bureaucratic engagement or other official encounters, there was a slightly different relationship between the US and India — cooler, occasionally uncertain, maybe even suspicious. I do not see that anymore. I find that there is substantially more common purpose, a recognition of the strength and goodwill that both parties bring to the table, and a recognition on both sides that there is recognition of where this relationship can go.”
Saying that he was “extraordinarily bullish” about the relationship, as potentially having the longest lasting impact on global peace and prosperity, the official said, “I personally have been very pleasantly surprised that most of my counterparts and interlocutors on the other side feel the same way.”
This year itself, there has also been an increase in high-level engagement between the two sides. India’s minister of commerce and industry Piyush Goyal visited Washington DC for trade talks; national security adviser Ajit Doval visited the US and along with his counterpart, Jake Sullivan, launched the initiative on critical and emerging technologies; in the next three weeks, three US cabinet members — treasury secretary Janet Yellen, secretary of state Antony J Blinken and commerce secretary Gina Raimondo — are scheduled to visit India.
President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Narendra Modi are expected to meet on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Hiroshima and at the Quad leader-level summit in Australia this summer, and Biden will visit India for the G20 summit in September. And there is a possibility of a state visit by PM Modi to Washington DC.
The official said, “We are determined to take critical, clearly discernible, and concrete steps to advance relations across the board. What that means is finding common purpose with partners in each government and sometimes, persuading or engaging otherwise bureaucratic forces in each of our governments that are ambivalent or moving slower with respect to fulfilling the ultimate ambitions of a stronger US-Indian relationship.”
Shared purpose on China
About China, which is perceived as the key strategic glue bringing New Delhi and Washington together, the official said that the countries have shared concerns about China’s “provocative activities”.
“The border incursions and the encounters that took place between India and China have had a defining consequence on Indian strategic thought in ways that I think many Americans don’t fully understand or appreciate. And I think the fact that the US was there to support India during delicate and difficult times is not lost on the Indian government. And I think we both share some concerns about provocative activities on the part of Xi Jinping’s China.”
India and the US, he added, “compare notes” on many of China’s undertakings, “whether it’s debt diplomacy or military engagements or cyber activities”. “And so, we have stepped up our exchanges and our sharing of information.”
But laying out a more nuanced picture than is often portrayed of these conversations, the official said that both India and the US “desire a sustainable, productive and competitive relationship with China”.
“We understand why, in many respects China is a fact on the ground and has to be engaged appropriately. But at the same time, I think there is a recognition that we will be better off in our diplomacy if there is a sense the US and India are in many respects confronting challenges from a common perspective. And that’s what we have sought to do.”
This means having a dialogue “in a steady, purposeful way, not fearmongering and not sending a signal that we are seeking to surround China”. Instead, the idea is to make it clear that as “time-tested democracies”, both India and the US are prepared to defend the operating order that has been so necessary for the “flourishing of democracy and open market principles” and the need to be vigilant to sustaining those practices.
“I think the US and India have signaled that in many ways. Both the US and India have diplomatic engagements with China. In those settings, we have sought to lay down clearly what our expectations are for our bilateral arrangements and how countries should behave multilaterally. Overall, the dialogues that we have had with India on China have been marked by shared purpose and perspective.”
When asked if Taiwan could emerge as a point of divergence — for the US, preventing Chinese aggression in Taiwan is a top priority in the Indo-Pacific, while for India, the issue is of concern but perhaps not as urgent — the official instead pointed to the convergence.
“India has been very clear that they have a strong desire to see the maintenance of peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific and across the Taiwan straits. In that respect, almost all the great powers — Japan, South Korea, countries in Europe, India, Australia — recognise the risks. They want preservation of status quo, and they want to see that care is taken in making sure there are not moves that will threaten peace and stability where we have seen remarkable economic and commercial growth.”
Undeniable tilt away from Russia
A year after Russia invaded Ukraine — an issue that skeptics thought would derail the India-US strategic relationship — both Washington and New Delhi have found a fair degree of common ground.
When asked how the differences were overcome, the official said that it was undeniable that India had a “longstanding relationship” with Russia. “But it is also the case that India has moved decisively to minimise and reduce its reliance on Russian military equipment.”
Referring to PM Modi’s conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Samarkand last year about this not being the era of war, the official said, “The only leader that I am aware of that has spoken directly and on the record to President Putin about what has taken place in Ukraine is PM Modi.”
The official also noted that India was concerned about Russian actions. “I believe that Indians in many diplomatic settings are prepared to express deep concern by what we have seen with respect to Russian actions and atrocities in Ukraine. Ultimately, I see a bending of trajectory. India obviously is concerned by the global consequences of the war in energy and food sectors. But at the same time, I think quietly they are deeply concerned by Russian activities.”
The US believes that India is tilting away from Russia, he said. “They are taking steps to diversify and deepen ties with the West. The trend is unmistakable. Some people would like that to go faster. I would simply say that there is an undeniable tilt and a recognition in Delhi about the concerns of the Ukraine war and the desire to be seen more on the side of the West here.”
Indo-Pacific report card
On how the administration would evaluate its record in terms of its wider Indo-Pacific strategy, the official pointed to both areas of achievements and domains where work is in progress.
“First, the Biden administration has taken pains to engage deeply in our traditional security partners. That means Japan, South Korea, Australia, Philippines, and Thailand.” In particular, the US believes that Japan’s decision to invest in new military capabilities “will be stabilising in the Indo-Pacific” and represents a fundamentally unique move in the country’s history.
Second, the US has doubled down on regional architecture, both in terms of formal and informal arrangements. The US recognises ASEAN as the “leading institutional framework” for the region. The official then pointed to “informal gatherings”, referring to Quad, which “could turn out to be the most important grouping of the 21st century”. “Taking that up to the leader level has been significant, critically important. And one thing that we would like to sustain going forward is the building habits of cooperation among these four countries.” India, US, Japan and Australia are members of the Quadrilateral Security Group, or Quad.
Third, the official pointed to AUKUS — the Australia-United Kingdom (UK)-US nuclear-powered submarine deal — as a substantive hard security achievement. “Working with Great Britain and Australia on nuclear technology in the submarines in a way that we have not shared with another country in 70 years is deeply significant.”
Among areas that are still under progress, the official first pointed to climate, where more work was needed to find “new areas of investment in alternative energy supplies” and ensuring there is a “strategy for transitional fuels”.
The US also sees ongoing negotiations around the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) as critical, with the official saying, “This will be a defining year to see whether we are successful in bridging some of the gaps on critical areas like climate change, critical minerals, investment protocols.”
In the backdrop of critics pointing out that America’s absence from the key regional economic and trading arrangements in the region was a big weakness, the official said the US was determined to make clear that it “intends to integrate carefully and strategically in the commercial frameworks and standard setting of the Indo-Pacific region”. The third area where work is in progress remains collaboration with key partners on technology issues.
“This is about a major shift in focus in the US government across the board. There is a recognition that this region is about America’s future and obviously linked to our prosperity as well.”
