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China Threat Drives US - India Strategic Handshake
ARLINGTON: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is in Washington this week, where he will meet with President Barack Obama for the fourth time on Tuesday and then separately meet with Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter. On Wednesday, Modi will speak before a joint-session of U.S. Congress, the fifth Indian Prime Minister to do so. He is also expected to meet with Speaker of the House Paul Ryan as well as the House Foreign Affairs and Senate Foreign Relations Committees. Modi’s Washington itinerary reflects the importance of the U.S.-India relationship to an expansive portfolio of global issues ranging from the global economy and climate change to nuclear non-proliferation and counter terrorism.7
However, strategic and geopolitical considerations are the primary drivers behind the evolving bilateral relationship. Regardless of slow progress in other areas (nuclear, trade, human rights) military and defense ties are likely to expand with an emphasis on naval and maritime security cooperation in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region. During a recent visit to India on April 10-13, Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter and Indian Defense Minister (Raksha Mantri) Shri Manohar Parrikar agreed to launch a bilateral Maritime Security Dialogue. During his visit, Carter toured the Indian Naval Base in Karwar and the INS Vikramaditya aircraft carrier — symbolizing the naval and maritime focus of the relationship.
One key deliverable that may be signed during Modi’s visit is the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA), which was agreed to “in principle” during Carter’s April visit to India. The LEMOA is a modified version of a Logistics Support Agreement (LSA) that has languished due to domestic political opposition in India since first discussed by former President George W. Bush and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Finalizing LEMOA is seen as a first step in moving forward on other ”foundational agreements” such as the Communications Interoperability and Security Memorandum of Agreement (CISMOA), and Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement for Geo-spatial Cooperation (BECA).
Also certain to the agenda is progress on the Defense Technology and Trade Initiative (DTTI), which aims to strengthen India’s defense industrial base and shift from a strict “buyer-seller” relationship toward co-development and co-production. So far, the initiative has two working groups. The Jet Engine Technology Joint Working Group (JETJWG) is focused on cooperating on “deck-based platforms” such as the F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter. The Joint Working Group on Aircraft Carrier Technology Cooperation (JWGACTC) which will contribute the production of India’s next domestically built aircraft carrier.
These agreements and initiatives are built upon the “ U.S.-India Joint Strategic Vision for the Asia-Pacific and Indian Ocean Region” and “Framework for the U.S.-India Defense Relationship” that were signed in 2015. The “Framework” agreement, which renewed for another 10 years a framework agreement signed in 2005, called for maritime security cooperation to protect the free flow of lawful commerce and freedom of navigation across sea lines of communication (SLOC) in accordance with international law and in support of the rules-based international order. The “Joint Strategic Vision” went further in specifically highlighting the South China Sea (SCS) and calling for the peaceful resolution of maritime territorial disputes according to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) rather than through force or threat of force.
Energy-Maritime Security Nexus
This recurring theme of maritime security and freedom of navigation to uphold the rules-based international order reflects the common narrative among most regional stakeholders in response to China’s assertiveness and revisionism in the SCS. This theme dominated talking points at the annual Asian security conference, the Shangri-La Dialogue, in Singapore on June 3-5.
Speaking in Singapore on Saturday, U.S. Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter called for a “principled security network” in East Asia. Carter clearly sees India as a stakeholder in the evolving regional security network, repeating his characterization of the growing bilateral military relationship as a “strategic handshake” expressed through the confluence of the U.S. “Asia Rebalance” and India’s “Act East” policy. Carter also noted the “technological handshake” focused on co-development and co-production that includes aircraft carrier design and construction. On India’s part, Defense Minister Parrikar embraced the “Indo-Pacific” geographic concept in his speech at the Shangri-la Dialogue, signaling a subtle departure from India’s traditionally limited maritime focus on the Indian Ocean Region (IOR).
Source>>
ARLINGTON: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is in Washington this week, where he will meet with President Barack Obama for the fourth time on Tuesday and then separately meet with Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter. On Wednesday, Modi will speak before a joint-session of U.S. Congress, the fifth Indian Prime Minister to do so. He is also expected to meet with Speaker of the House Paul Ryan as well as the House Foreign Affairs and Senate Foreign Relations Committees. Modi’s Washington itinerary reflects the importance of the U.S.-India relationship to an expansive portfolio of global issues ranging from the global economy and climate change to nuclear non-proliferation and counter terrorism.7
However, strategic and geopolitical considerations are the primary drivers behind the evolving bilateral relationship. Regardless of slow progress in other areas (nuclear, trade, human rights) military and defense ties are likely to expand with an emphasis on naval and maritime security cooperation in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region. During a recent visit to India on April 10-13, Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter and Indian Defense Minister (Raksha Mantri) Shri Manohar Parrikar agreed to launch a bilateral Maritime Security Dialogue. During his visit, Carter toured the Indian Naval Base in Karwar and the INS Vikramaditya aircraft carrier — symbolizing the naval and maritime focus of the relationship.
One key deliverable that may be signed during Modi’s visit is the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA), which was agreed to “in principle” during Carter’s April visit to India. The LEMOA is a modified version of a Logistics Support Agreement (LSA) that has languished due to domestic political opposition in India since first discussed by former President George W. Bush and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Finalizing LEMOA is seen as a first step in moving forward on other ”foundational agreements” such as the Communications Interoperability and Security Memorandum of Agreement (CISMOA), and Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement for Geo-spatial Cooperation (BECA).
Also certain to the agenda is progress on the Defense Technology and Trade Initiative (DTTI), which aims to strengthen India’s defense industrial base and shift from a strict “buyer-seller” relationship toward co-development and co-production. So far, the initiative has two working groups. The Jet Engine Technology Joint Working Group (JETJWG) is focused on cooperating on “deck-based platforms” such as the F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter. The Joint Working Group on Aircraft Carrier Technology Cooperation (JWGACTC) which will contribute the production of India’s next domestically built aircraft carrier.
These agreements and initiatives are built upon the “ U.S.-India Joint Strategic Vision for the Asia-Pacific and Indian Ocean Region” and “Framework for the U.S.-India Defense Relationship” that were signed in 2015. The “Framework” agreement, which renewed for another 10 years a framework agreement signed in 2005, called for maritime security cooperation to protect the free flow of lawful commerce and freedom of navigation across sea lines of communication (SLOC) in accordance with international law and in support of the rules-based international order. The “Joint Strategic Vision” went further in specifically highlighting the South China Sea (SCS) and calling for the peaceful resolution of maritime territorial disputes according to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) rather than through force or threat of force.
Energy-Maritime Security Nexus
This recurring theme of maritime security and freedom of navigation to uphold the rules-based international order reflects the common narrative among most regional stakeholders in response to China’s assertiveness and revisionism in the SCS. This theme dominated talking points at the annual Asian security conference, the Shangri-La Dialogue, in Singapore on June 3-5.
Speaking in Singapore on Saturday, U.S. Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter called for a “principled security network” in East Asia. Carter clearly sees India as a stakeholder in the evolving regional security network, repeating his characterization of the growing bilateral military relationship as a “strategic handshake” expressed through the confluence of the U.S. “Asia Rebalance” and India’s “Act East” policy. Carter also noted the “technological handshake” focused on co-development and co-production that includes aircraft carrier design and construction. On India’s part, Defense Minister Parrikar embraced the “Indo-Pacific” geographic concept in his speech at the Shangri-la Dialogue, signaling a subtle departure from India’s traditionally limited maritime focus on the Indian Ocean Region (IOR).
Source>>