The bilateral defense and security collaboration between India and the U.S. has strengthened substantially over the recent years and their global strategic partnership, particularly in the Indo-Pacific region, has received a big boost.
India and the U.S. have traditionally maintained close and friendly relations. The defense relationship between the two countries has been one of mutual trust and confidence, which translated into the U.S. according major defense partner status to India in June 2016. In addition, both countries have concluded certain major agreements, which include the Defense Framework Agreement, signed in 2015, which lays a blueprint for collaboration between the defense establishments of both countries; the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) signed in 2016, which is a foundational agreement, facilitating reciprocal logistics support between the Armed Forces of both countries; and the more recent Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA) signed on Sept. 6, 2018 that will allow India to procure U.S. defense technology and facilitate information-sharing between the Armed Forces of both countries.
Defense cooperation between India and the United States got a big boost when they signed LEMOA, a key defense pact to use each other’s bases for repair and replenishment of supplies.
The bilateral LEMOA has given access to both countries to use each other’s designated military facilities and helped the two militaries to coordinate better.
After the signing of the LEMOA, the military-to-military ties between India and the US have been growing rapidly.
The two nations began a new generation of military and security cooperation when they signed the ground-breaking COMCASA after 2+2 talks. The agreement will enable the two militaries to boost their interoperability and share operational intelligence in real-time.
COMCASA is an India-specific version of the Communication and Information on Security Memorandum of Agreement (CISMOA). It comes into force immediately, and is valid for a period 10 years.
India will now receive sophisticated military communications equipment and real-time encrypted information from the U.S. COMCASA will also enable India to access advanced U.S. defense systems and procure U.S. defense technology.
India’s Defense Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that the COMCASA is a historic step forward in strengthening the relationship between the two nations.
The signing of CISMOA follows the crucial 2+2 dialogue between the two countries. The India-U.S. Ministerial 2+2 Dialogue was a reflection of the shared commitment by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and U.S. President Donald Trump to provide a positive, forward-looking vision for the India-U.S. strategic partnership and to promote synergy in their diplomatic and security efforts. India’s Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj and Minister of Defense Nirmala Sitharaman held talks with U.S. Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo and Secretary of Defense James N. Mattis. They resolved to continue meetings in this format on an annual basis.
Recognizing that their two countries are strategic partners, major and independent stakeholders in world affairs, the ministers committed to work together on regional and global issues, including in bilateral, trilateral and quadrilateral formats. The two sides further decided to establish secure communication between the minister of foreign affairs of India and the U.S. secretary of state and between the minister of defense of India and the U.S. secretary of defense, to help maintain regular high-level communication on emerging developments.
India is concerned about possible changes in U.S. visa norms and took up the H-1B visa issue during the 2+2 Dialogue. The number of H-1B visas from India have gone up from 108,000 in 2014 to 129,000 in 2018. But the danger of reduction in the number of H1B visas is looming large after Trump's “Buy American, Hire American” policy. The Indian government has raised the issue of changing the H-1B visa regime with U.S. decision-makers at various levels, including the White House and State Department. The issue was effectively raised during the 2+2 Dialogue and U.S. representatives assured their Indian counterparts that they would seriously consider India’s concerns.
In February this year, the Trump administration came up with a new visa policy that makes the procedure for issuing H-1B visas stricter. As per the new policy, the hiring company would have to prove that its H-1B employee at a third-party worksite has specific and non-qualifying speculative assignments in specialty occupation. India has been telling the U.S. that skilled Indian professionals have contributed to the growth and development of U.S. economy.
Later India’s Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj told reporters that she conveyed India’s expectation for a non-discriminatory and predictable approach to the H-1B visa regime, given its high impact on innovation, competitiveness and people-to-people partnership, all of which are a vital source of strength for Indo-U.S. relations.
Swaraj acclaimed Trump’s hardline Pakistan policies and the support India has been getting from the U.S. administration on the issue of terrorism in the region, particularly emanating from Pakistan. Welcoming the expansion of bilateral counter-terrorism cooperation, India and the U.S. announced their intent to increase information-sharing efforts on known or suspected terrorists. The two sides called on Pakistan to ensure that the territory under its control is not used to launch terrorist attacks on other countries.
The U.S. secretaries assured their Indian counterparts that the U.S. will continue its support to India in its bid to join the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG). The U.S. has been pushing for India's NSG membership. In the past, the U.S. has urged NSG members to support India's membership into the elite atomic trading bloc.
India’s Defense Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the conclusion of the first ever Ministerial 2+2 between India and the United States is a concrete manifestation of the vision of their leaders, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Donald Trump, to take the India-U.S. relationship to a new level.
She said their leaders recognize that it is no longer viable to address foreign and defense issues in a compartmentalized manner. “We discussed a range of issues relating to our ties in a strategic framework and identified steps to take our relationship forward. Our discussions have paved the way for a new era in India-U.S. defense and strategic engagement. Given our shared interests, we are confident that we can work together to promote peace, economic prosperity and security in our region and beyond,” she said.
Recognizing their rapidly growing military-to-military ties, the two sides committed to the creation of a new, tri-services exercise and to further increase personnel exchanges between the two militaries and defense organizations. Acknowledging the unique role of technology in the India-U.S. defense partnership, the two sides reaffirmed their commitment to continue to encourage and prioritize co-production and co-development projects through the Defense Technology and Trade Initiative (DTTI) and to pursue other avenues of defense innovation cooperation.
America’s Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Alice Wells said in Washington that the 2+2 endorsed the strength of the India-U.S. relationship. “It reaffirmed the alignment of our interests and our values towards advancing an open, free and inclusive Indo-Pacific,” she said.
The Indian ministers welcomed the inclusion of India by the United States among the top tier of countries entitled to license-free exports, re-exports and transfers under the License Exception Strategic Trade Authorization (STA-1) and also committed to explore other means to support further expansion in two-way trade in defense items and defense manufacturing supply chain linkages.
Import of oil from Iran is an important issue for India as Iran is a major source of crude import. India enjoys friendly relations with Iran and after COMCASA, India is hopeful it would get concessions from the U.S. in importing oil from Iran in view of the sanctions imposed by the U.S. on the West Asian nation that will be effective from Nov. 4. India looks forward to similar leniency in the purchase of S-400 missiles from Russia in view of U.S. sanctions against Moscow relating to defense supplies. The S-400 missile system is believed to be the most powerful anti-aircraft and anti-missile system in service.
On the other hand, the U.S. values partnership with India to counter China’s expansionist behavior in the South China Sea. U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo said both sides should ensure freedom of the seas and work toward peaceful resolutions of territorial and maritime disputes.
A week after the successful 2+2 Dialogue, India’s National Security Advisor Ajit Doval held talks with US Defense Secretary James Mattis, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and John Bolton, National Security Advisor to Donald Trump, during which they discussed the future direction of the strategic Indo-U.S. ties.
