US Defence Secretary’s visit to further cement India-US defence and strategic partnership

In a reiteration of the US commitment to remain an enduring strategic partner of India, US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis is paying a three-day visit to New Delhi from September 26 to 28. It will be the first Cabinet level visit under the President Donald Trump’s new administration at the White House. Apart from meeting his Indian counterpart Nirmala Sitharaman, who only recently took charge of the Defence Ministry, Mr Mattis will also have a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The US Defence Secretary’s visit will also emphasise the view of his country which sees India as an influential partner with broader mutual interests extending beyond South Asia, official sources said. His visit comes within three months of Prime Minister Modi’s maiden meeting with Mr Trump. The June meeting between President Trump and Mr Modi signaled continuity in the US-India defence and security relationship. The US Defence Secretary will also express his country’s appreciation for India’s important contributions toward Afghanistan’s democracy, stability, prosperity, and security. Beyond the optics, India is likely to tell the visiting US Defence Secretary, a former Lieutenant-General, that Pakistan’s role in subverting institutions and giving shelter to terror outfits is a key factor in preventing peace and stability returning to Afghanistan.

As US needs Pakistan bases to strike at Taliban, it would remain to be seen as to which extent the US would go in asserting its say to Islamabad. Defence analysts say that Mr Mattis would also try to hardsell Lockheed Martin’s F-16 Block 70 fighter aircraft to India which had earlier been rejected by the Indian Air Force. However, in the broader geopolitical and strategic scheme of things, Washington would need New Delhi in balancing and checking the power and rise of China. 'The growth of the defence relationship has been nothing short of astonishing.

In the span of about a decade, defence trade shot from $1 billion to over $15 billion. The US and India take part in numerous and combined exercises, and the US now authorises the sharing of sensitive technologies with India on a level commensurate with America’s closest allies. There has also been a (somewhat under the radar) substantial deepening of the security partnership, with a focus on counter-terrorism cooperation and intelligence sharing,’’ Joshua A White, Associate Professor of the Practice of South Asian Studies at the John Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, wrote in a recent article.