New Delhi is a key partner in fighting China

The United States sees India as one of its most important partners in dealing with China’s growing ambitions in the Indian Ocean region and the Biden government has demonstrated this from the beginning, experts told CNBC on Monday.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin met with India’s Defense Minister Rajnath Singh over the weekend on his first overseas trip to the role as the two sides concluded talks on defense cooperation. Austin also visited Japan and South Korea last week, Washington’s closest military allies in Asia.

“It is important that the Secretary of Defense made a trip to India on his first trip to Asia, together with Japan and South Korea,” said Dhruva Jaishankar, executive director of the think tank Observer Research Foundation America, on the “Squawk program. CNBC Box Asia. “

Jaishankar also said that the Biden government’s investment in the Quad – the informal strategic alliance between the United States, India, Australia and Japan – is equally important.

Austin called India “an increasingly important partner in today’s rapidly changing international dynamic”, saying the bilateral relationship is “a stronghold of a free and open Indo-Pacific region”.

Beijing has significantly expanded its commitments in the Indian Ocean over the past three decades and has been especially active since 2008. A report by the Brookings Institution last June said that American and Indian strategists are concerned about China’s growing naval presence, as well as the use of “diplomatic trap debt”, which could provide Beijing with military advantages.

China established its first military base abroad in Djibouti, in the Horn of Africa, in 2017 and invested in the development, management or acquisition of ports strategically located in countries around India, including Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Myanmar.

“There is a growing Chinese presence in the Indian Ocean region,” said Arun Singh, a former Indian ambassador to the United States. He told CNBC’s “Street Signs Asia” on Monday: “India has to work to safeguard its interests and security. So the way they are doing this is one, building their own naval capacity and then building partnerships with other countries. “

The Indian Navy has also increased its patrols in recent years, as New Delhi has taken a much more activist approach to humanitarian assistance and disaster relief across the Indian Ocean region, according to ORFA’s Jaishankar.

As China and India argue more often about the area, there is likely to be some natural convergence between New Delhi and Washington, he said. Although not as significant as its presence in the Pacific Ocean, the United States has a permanent presence in the Indian Ocean region through military bases in the Middle East, Djibouti and Diego Garcia Island, which is part of the British Indian Ocean Territory, Jaishankar explained .

The US-India relationship has developed in “significant leaps and bounds” in recent years, partly driven by common concerns about China, according to Jaishankar.

“We are at a stage where, although they are not allies, the United States and India are conducting a significant number of military exercises among themselves and with other partners involving the three armed forces,” he said. This includes a trilateral naval exercise between the USA, Japan and India, called the Malabar games. Last year, New Delhi also invited Australia to participate.

Under the Trump administration, the United States also signed an agreement last year that grants New Delhi access to U.S. satellite data, essential for missiles and other military assets. It was the last of four key defense agreements that the United States typically signs with close allies that allow for the exchange of classified and classified information.

The United States is also becoming a major supplier of military equipment to India, behind Russia. Recent reports state that India plans to buy 30 armed drones from the U.S. to intensify maritime and land defenses as tensions with China and Pakistan persist.

But the India-Russia relationship could potentially disrupt the closer ties between New Delhi and Washington. Reuters reported that India is about to acquire Russian S-400 air defense systems that could subject the country to U.S. sanctions under an American law of 2017 that aims to prevent countries from purchasing Russian military equipment. Under the new administration, the United States told India that it is unlikely to obtain an exemption from the planned purchase of the S-400, the news network reported in January.

Former Ambassador Singh told CNBC that, even as India has increased its purchases of US military equipment in recent years, most of its defense stockpiles are still of Russian origin. Therefore, the expectation in New Delhi is that the United States will understand these compulsions and avoid giving Indian lawmakers the impression that Washington is not a reliable partner.

“It is important for the U.S. to signal to people in India that it exists as a long-term partner, as a trusted partner and therefore, in its own interest, I think the U.S. should not take any steps to sanction India, for S- 400, “said Singh.

“In China, the United States sees India as a very important partner. I think that this would be, in addition to the strengths of the bilateral relationship, the defining parameter for the future of the relationship ”, added the former ambassador.