Vivek Raghuvanshi
NEW DELHI — India is seen to be warming up to tighter relations with the United States, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the US Congress June 8 during his fourth visit after coming to power in May 2014.
But while two US lawmakers introduced legislation June 8 in the House of Representatives to designate India as a Special Global Partner of America, analysts here are unsure about the new stance toward Washington, which marks a paradigm shift in India's foreign and defense policy.
In general, a tighter embrace is in store, or so it seems from Modi's address to lawmakers, though it is unclear what practical steps might follow. One recent exchange between the two sides illustrates the differing expectations at play. Shortly after U.S. Pacific Command chief Adm. Harry Harris publicly envisioned the Indian and US navies "sailing together," Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar said there would be no joint patrolling, notes Bharat Karnad, research professor at New Delhi based Centre for Policy Research.
Amit Cowshish, the Ministry of Defense’s former additional finance secretary, says, "India does seem to be tilting towards [the] US in recent years. In so far as defense is concerned, the only concrete result has been a substantial increase in import of defense equipment from US through the Foreign Military Sales route. There has been enhanced cooperation in areas such as counterterrorism but co-development and co-production projects are yet to take off in a big way."
India has tried to remain neutral between Russia and the US and wants to avoid antagonizing China, with which it fought a brief battle in 1962. A resulting border dispute, covering thousands of kilometers, remains unresolved.
Read the full story at DefenseNews