Ambassador Kenneth I. Juster lays out several areas for enhanced Indo-US cooperation, hopes to announce fighter jet and helicopter deals next year.
New Delhi: The US wants India to be a net provider of regional security, especially in the Indian Ocean region and its vicinity, Washington’s new envoy to New Delhi said Thursday.
Making a case for scaling up bilateral cooperation, including the joint development and production of next generation defence systems, Ambassador Kenneth I. Juster laid out several areas for enhanced cooperation including in intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance.
Significantly, the ambassador named specific projects that could be signed in the next year – fighter aircraft production, co-development of next generation systems, including a Future Vertical Lift platform or Advanced Technology Ground Combat Vehicles, among others.
The ambassador also batted for an increase in joint military exercises, saying while there have been several bilateral war games, the time has come for an expansion.
“It is time to consider a multi-service exercise, perhaps focused on humanitarian assistance and disaster relief. This modest expansion of military training would allow both countries to enhance what we learn from each other and increase our comfort, ease, and confidence in working together,” he said.
Recalling that US defence trade has increased from virtually zero to $15 billion now, the ambassador said the US wanted to support India’s initiative for indigenous production.
“Major US defence companies are already in India producing components for complex defence systems. We seek to assist India’s efforts to build up its indigenous defence base and capabilities, as well as enhance the inter-operability of our two forces as major defence partners in the Indo-Pacific region,” he said.
Addressing the perceived dichotomy between Donald Trump’s ‘America First’ mantra and Narendra Modi’s pet ‘Make in India’ scheme, Juster said interests will never be perfectly aligned, and the burdens cannot fall only on one party or another.
“Rather, as we did earlier with dual-use technology, all parties need to be creative in finding commonalities and mutually beneficial solutions that will enable them to derive value from the process,” he said.
Suggesting a radical idea to upscale cooperation, Juster said in future, India and the US could have liaison offices in their respective combatant commands. These would be commands like India’s Andaman Nicobar Command or the Pacific Command of the US.
Referring to India’s entry into the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), Juster said it is expected that in the very near future, India is likely to join the Australia Group on chemical and biological weapons and the Nuclear Suppliers Group.
“We are working closely with India and our international partners to secure India’s membership in the Nuclear Suppliers Group. At the same time, the United States has gone from a restrictive policy regarding the export of dual-use items to India to a much more liberal one,” he said.
Juster said the US sees India as a leading power in the Indo-Pacific region that is fast becoming the centre of gravity of the evolving international system.
“The United States will remain committed to this region – as we are to the rules-based international order – because our future is inextricably linked to it,” he said.
“We welcome India’s leadership with us in this venture – as partners bolstered by conviction and working with like-minded nations on a regional architecture to ensure that the Indo-Pacific is increasingly a place of peace, stability, and growing prosperity, rather than one of disorder, conflict, and predatory economic policy.”
Read the full text of the speech here.