Lloyd Austin, the United States (US) secretary of defence, will visit India in early June to advance discussions on bilateral defence cooperation, according to Ely Ratner, the Department of Defense’s assistant secretary for Indo-Pacific security affairs.
Ratner, a key architect of the administration’s regional defence posture, also stated that India and the US are now more strategically aligned than ever before and that there is a clear directive from the top political leadership in the American system that the defence relationship with India is a top priority that cannot be maintained in “business-as-usual” mode.
During Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s state visit to the United States on June 22, he hinted at major announcements and expressed unequivocal support for the co-production and co-development of defence systems to strengthen India’s indigenous capabilities.
Austin’s second trip to India and his seventh to the Indo-Pacific region since taking office in January 2021. Austin will visit Tokyo and then Singapore, where he will speak at the Shangrila Dialogue before departing for New Delhi on June 4.
The secretary’s visit comes in the run-up to Modi’s state visit, where defence cooperation is expected to be a major focus. Austin is the fourth cabinet-level official from the United States to visit India this year. In February and March, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo visited India.
In response to a question from HT, Ratner said Austin’s visit comes during a “historic period in building out, deepening, modernizing, and advancing the US-India major defence partnership” at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a prominent Washington DC think tank.
He mentioned the January launch of the initiative on critical and emerging technologies (ICET), which has a major component on defence industrial cooperation, a recent visit by the Indian defence secretary for bilateral consultations with top Pentagon officials, Austin’s upcoming visit, and Modi’s visit, which Ratner described as “very rich.”
Recognizing “fits and starts” in bilateral defence industrial cooperation, Ratner stated, “What we are seeing is closer than ever strategic alignment, including on this question of what we have as a shared priority of deepening co-development and co-production and strengthening India’s indigenous military capabilities as it looks to strengthen its military, as it looks to be a net security provider in the region, and as it looks to be a net security provider in the region.”
Ratner stated that the US supported all of these areas. “This not only allows us to deepen our engagement in terms of technology and systems, but it also allows us to work together and deploy these systems more than we have previously.” We are very excited.”
Ratner stated that success in this area would necessitate a departure from “business as usual.” “Our leaders, from the president to the national security adviser (NSA) to the secretary of defence, have stated that it is not business as usual in the case of India.” This is an urgent matter. We want to see results in this specific area of co-production and co-development, with ICET as the foundational institution.”
The White House factsheet on ICET, issued after the NSA-level talks in January, stated that the US would conduct an “expedited review” of General Electric’s (GE) application “to jointly produce jet engines that could power jet aircraft operated and produced indigenously by India.” Both parties believe that a green signal to GE would be a significant symbol of the growing strategic relationship, as well as the US commitment to the Make in India initiative and India’s quest for self-sufficiency.
Ratner stated that work is being done in the area. “On the issue of GE engines or other types of capabilities under the ICET rubric, we are devoting a significant amount of time to all of this.” We will discuss all of this when the Secretary visits Delhi, and we hope to make major announcements when the Prime Minister arrives. Keep an eye on this space, and you’ll know whether we succeeded in a month.”
Ratner served as Joe Biden’s deputy NSA during the Barack Obama administration and is a powerful figure in the Pentagon. In the last two years, he has played a critical role in supporting Japan’s quest for military modernization, operationalizing the Australia-United Kingdom-US (AUKUS) nuclear submarine deal, and deepening US defence cooperation with South Korea, the Philippines, and Pacific Island countries.
