Work in Progress | March 2020

Palak Gupta

From former US President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s 1959 visit to India to the recent 36-hour state visit of President Donald J. Trump, the US has come a long way in strengthening bilateral ties with India. And this is truer of the US advancing defence trade relationship with India, thus paving the way for a broader security partnership.

US Marine Corps Sgt. Jeremy Hill presents the US Marine Corps colours during the Exercise Tiger Triumph’s
opening ceremony aboard the INS Jalashwa at Visakhapatnam

With agreements like Industrial Security Annex (ISA), Communications, Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA), the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Understanding (LEMOA) in place, defence cooperation between the two countries continues to expand and evolve over the course of time.

However, negotiations are still underway for concluding Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement (BECA) which would facilitate exchange of geospatial information between India and the US for both military and civilian use.

The two countries also expanded defence cooperation worth over USD3 billion about which Trump said, “will enhance our joint defence capabilities.”

“We expanded our defence cooperation with agreements for India to purchase more than USD3 billion of advanced American military equipment, including Apache and MH-60 Romeo Helicopters. These will enhance our joint defence capabilities,” said Trump during a joint press conference with Prime Minister Modi following US-India delegation-level talks.

Just ahead of Trump’s two-day state visit to India, the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) had approved the acquisition of these choppers.

India was designated as a Major Defence Partner by the US in June 2016, affording it the highest consideration for procurement and technology transfer purposes. This is kind of a bespoke status for India.

India and the US also hold regular joint military drills or war games such as Tiger Triumph, Yudh Abhyas, and Vajra Prahar, thus enhancing interoperability between the forces of two countries.

The two countries have also decided to strengthen consultation via various mechanism already in place namely — the India-US-Japan trilateral summits; the 2+2 ministerial meeting of the foreig