With Strings Attached

Pravin Sawhney

Having signed the four basic US military foundational agreements necessary for interoperability, the Narendra Modi government will now be taking India’s military relationship with the United States several notches higher. If things move at the government’s pace, India will soon be a de facto US ally without any clarity on how it will enhance our defence against the combined China-Pakistan threat. Or how it would help establish geopolitical equilibrium with China.

When the US defence secretary Lloyd Austin came to India (19-21 March) after his visits to Japan and South Korea (US allies in Asia), on the table for discussion was the US’ Multi Domain Operations (MDO) warfighting concept. That this was in the offing was indicated by the Army Chief, General M.M. Naravane during his February 24 address at a webinar organised by the Vivekanand International Foundation (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdEBQqYZYLA). According to Gen. Naravane, MDO are the future of war for which the Indian Army is preparing.

While the Army Chief’s sudden switch to MDO from Network-Centric Operations (NCO) may have come as a surprise to many, the National Security Advisor (NSA), and by extension the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), had been working the ropes to get under the broader and more definitive US security umbrella. I believe that the NSA’s office was acquainted with the idea of MDO during the Ladakh crisis, when in desperation the government was looking at all options to counter China. These included seeking non-traditional (by Indian thinking) means as well. Some start-ups, familiar with some technologies, have been working with the NSA’s office on developing an Indian concept of MDO. This was the reason the Modi government rushed to sign Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement (BECA) even when it was unclear if Trump administration would return to power.

The Biden administration is determined to do more than incorporate allies and partners (India) into its MDO warfighting concept. Even before the US’ Indo-Pacific commander (INDOPACOM), Admiral Philip Davidson, recently told the Senate Armed Services Committee that Chinese military aggression towards Taiwan and India could manifest ‘in fact in the next six years’, the White House had asked the Pentagon to do a Task Force review on how to meet the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) challenge in Asia. Senior US officials including the Joint Chiefs Chairman, General Mark Miller have gone public in suggesting what steps needed to be taken to stem the US military downslide.

Defence minister Rajnath Singh and US Defence Secretary Lloyd James Austin III