Asserting that the strategic partnership between India and the US has
strengthened significantly during the past two decades, the Pentagon
told the Congress on May 31 that both countries recognise the importance
of the Indo-Pacific to global trade and commerce and share a common
outlook on the region.
The Indo-Pacific region contributes
two-thirds of global growth in gross domestic product (GDP) and accounts
for 60 percent of the global GDP.
This region includes the
world's largest economies- the United States, China and Japan- and six
of the world's fastest growing economies - India, Cambodia, Laos,
Myanmar, Nepal and the Philippines.A quarter of US exports go to the Indo-Pacific. Exports to India and
China have more than doubled over the past decade due to free and open
trade routes through the air, sea, land, space and cyber commons that
form the current global system.
“Both countries recognise the
importance of the Indo-Pacific to global trade and commerce and
acknowledge that developments in this region will shape the larger
trajectory of the rules-based international order,” the Pentagon said in
a Indo-Pacific Strategy Report to the Congress amidst China flexing its
muscles in the South China Sea.
India, through its “Act East”
policy, continues to make significant security, economic and development
investments to secure the vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific
region, said the report which is a comprehensive articulation of its
role within a whole-of-government strategy for the Indo-Pacific region.
As
an implementation document, the report provides clarity on the US
National Defense Strategy as it applies to the region and highlights the
role of allies and partners in implementing our shared vision for a
free and open Indo-Pacific.
Noting that the Indian Ocean Region
is at the nexus of global trade and commerce, with nearly half of the
world's 90,000 commercial vessels and two thirds of global oil trade
travelling through its sea lanes, it said the region boasts some of the
fastest-growing economies on Earth and is home to a quarter of the
world's population.
While the region offers unprecedented
opportunity, it is also confronting a myriad of security challenges,
including terrorism, transnational crime, trafficking-in-persons, and
illicit drugs.
To combat these challenges, the United States
seeks opportunities to broaden and strengthen partnerships with India,
Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Bangladesh and Nepal to respond to shared
regional challenges, the report said.
The US and India maintain a
broad-based strategic partnership, underpinned by shared interests,
democratic values and strong people-to-people ties, it said.
“The
US-India strategic partnership has strengthened significantly during
the past two decades, based on a convergence of strategic interests, and
the United States and India continue to use their deepening
relationship to build new partnerships within and beyond the
Indo-Pacific,” the Pentagon said.
Noting that in June 2016, the
US designated India a “Major Defense Partner,” a status unique to India,
the Pentagon said the designation seeks to elevate the US defense
partnership with India to a level commensurate with that of the United
States' closest allies and partners.
The establishment of the
US-India 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue in September 2018 also serves as a
tangible demonstration of our commitment to promoting the shared
principles of a free and open Indo-Pacific, it said.
According to
the Pentagon, the US continues to pursue a range of initiatives with
India to enable cooperation, strengthen their inter-operability, and
establish a strong foundation for defense trade, technology sharing,
industrial collaboration, and broader cooperation on defense innovation.
The
signing of the Communications, Compatibility and Security Agreement in
2018 represents a significant development in our military-to-military
relationship, facilitating greater inter-operability and real-time
secure information-sharing. Department of Defense and the Indian
Ministry of Defence are increasing the scope, complexity, and frequency
of our military exercises.
Later this year, the US and India will conduct their first tri-service exercise, it said.
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