The Aakhya Weekly #53 | A new era for Indo-US partnership
The Aakhya Weekly #53 | A new era for Indo-US partnership
In Focus: PM Modi on US State visit; tech, defence on the agenda
India-US ties are set to enter a new phase, heralded by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ongoing state visit in the United States.
Although PM Modi has visited the US several times since becoming Prime Minister, this was his first State visit. PM Modi began his visit by leading International Yoga Day celebrations at the UN Headquarters in New York on 21 June. The event created a Guinness World Record for people from most nationalities participating in a yoga session. He also met with a number of top US industrialists, CEOs, and thought leaders.
The visit has been eventful and marked by some key successes – including several investment deals in key sectors such as semiconductors and defence capabilities. This article explores some of the key takeaways from PM Modi’s visit in context of the deepening strategic relations between India and the United States.
From adversaries to partners
Much has been said about the relations between India and the US through the Cold War years, with the United States being in a strategic alliance with Pakistan (as a counterweight to Soviet presence in Afghanistan) while India spearheaded the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) in an effort to bolster the independence and sovereignty of former European colonies, including itself. India also came under a barrage of sanctions for conducting a nuclear test in 1974, which affected the country’s nuclear and space programmes. Even so, India became a nuclear weapon state in 1998 after successfully conducting tests.
Relations continued to remain lukewarm for years afterward, as the US assumed de-facto leadership of a unipolar world order and India focused on economic growth and national security, following liberalisation of its economy in 1991 and the Kargil war in 1999. Shortly afterward, India and the US embarked upon a new epoch of strategic ties with a historic nuclear cooperation agreement, which led to the recognition of India as a responsible nuclear state.
In recent years, India-US ties have been on an upward trajectory, with bilateral cooperation on multiple fronts. The United States emerged as India’s largest trading partner in FY2022-23 at US$128.55 billion, out of which the export market stood at $78.31 billion.
Defence and anti-terrorism cooperation between both countries has also seen an unprecedented rise, with India having signed a variety of agreements with the United States on information sharing in the space segment, and (more importantly) technology sharing in defence equipment manufacturing.
The China factor
The emergence of China as a new global superpower and a potential threat to peace and security in the Indo-Pacific has led to a convergence of US and Indian strategic interests. Tensions between India and China had gone into cold storage post the war of 1962 and appear to have been revived in recent years with skirmishes taking place along with Indo-Chinese border. China and India share complicated ties, as do China and the United States. It has been reported that the Chinese navy, by number of ships, is the largest in the world, and its presence in the Pacific and Indian Oceans is likely to increase further.
The Covid-19 pandemic and the Ukraine conflict have resulted in a great deal of death and devastation and have had some impact on every corner of the world, with several economies heading for recession and in some cases, even default. Pressure is mounting on global supply chains – particularly in crucial sectors like semiconductors which form the foundation for all electronics. India, the US, and 12 other countries (together accounting for 40% of global GDP) have reached an agreement for cooperation under the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) to improve resilience, transparency, and efficiency of global supply chains.
At the onset of the digital age, technological advancement and national security interests have become inescapable priorities for many nations, including India and the US. Undoubtedly, these priorities would not dismiss the context of China’s rise to prominence and its expansionism in the Indo-Pacific region. The agenda of PM Modi’s US visit, which is centred around technology and defence cooperation, provides the subtext for a deepening strategic partnership between India and the US to ensure a peaceful and open Indo-Pacific.
Chips, jets, and emerging tech – raking in new deals
One of the big takeaways from this State visit is that a number of leading US companies have pledged investments into India in critical sectors such as semiconductors – particularly in the manufacturing and capacity-building segments. India has taken up the challenge of entering the semiconductor arena by introducing incentives for both production and design, through which it hopes to grow the sector and generate employment. To better understand the significance of semiconductors and their relevance in the global economy, we recommend that you follow our ongoing Semicon series for an overview of this sector (first segment available here).
Secondly, US’s General Electric (GE) has signed an agreement with India’s Hindustan Aeronautics Limited to manufacture fighter jets for the Indian Air Force. GE will make, under license, its F414 engine for India’s Tejas Mk2 Light Combat Aircraft. This is a significant breakthrough in Indo-US defence cooperation as it envisages, for the first time, a sharing of technology. The India-US Defence Acceleration Ecosystem (INDUS-X), launched by the defence ministries of both countries to expand technology partnership and defence industrial cooperation.
Space collab set for take-off as India signs the Artemis Accords
India has also joined the Artemis Accords, which promote multilateral cooperation for space exploration, and will join 26 other like-minded nations in space travel and exploration for the benefit of humanity. The Artemis Accords are a non-binding framework of guidelines on space exploration and utilisation and are based on the Outer Space Treaty of 1967. India’s ISRO and US’s NASA have also agreed to work towards a joint space mission in 2024.
Both countries have also increased cooperation in a host of other emerging sectors such as quantum computing, drone technologies, and artificial intelligence, as well as downgrading of visa requirements for skilled Indian professionals in the US. For more details, read here.
Top Stories of the Week
India at the Summit for the New Global Financing Pact in Paris
India's Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, is attending the Paris summit for a 'New Global Financing Pact.' Alongside the two-day summit, scheduled for June 22-23, Sitharaman will engage in multilateral and bilateral discussions with counterparts from various countries. The summit aims to reshape the global financial system and address poverty and climate change issues.
Key topics to be discussed at the summit include improving access to financing for climate-vulnerable countries, debt restructuring and cancellation, public finance for climate action, and addressing the loss and damage caused by climate impacts. These discussions seek to provide effective solutions to the challenges faced by developing nations in dealing with the consequences of climate change.
The summit will see the participation of prominent leaders, including German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Brazil's President Luiz Incio Lula da Silva, and China's Prime Minister Li Qiang. International organizations will also be represented, with attendees such as United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, World Bank President Ajay Banga, and IMF President Kristalina Georgieva. Climate activists Greta Thunberg and Vanessa Nakate will contribute their perspectives as well.
India's active participation in the summit underlines its commitment to addressing global challenges. Sitharaman's presence signifies India's dedication to shaping the global financial system to effectively tackle poverty and climate change. The discussions held during the summit have the potential to foster innovative solutions and promote international cooperation in addressing these pressing issues.
UN adopts binding treaty on marine biodiversity
After almost five years of preparation, the United Nations has adopted a legally binding convention aimed at conserving marine biodiversity. A global first, the treaty extends protections for marine lives to the high seas, an area encompassing two-thirds of the world’s oceans which lie outside national borders.
The treaty sets up a framework for states to coordinate their marine conservation efforts, building on the legacy of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which created a comprehensive framework to govern marine and maritime activity. It has four key prongs: (a) allowing the fair and equitable sharing of benefits that arise from bioprospecting, (b) creating area-based management tools to conserve and sustain habitats in the high seas, (c) setting up a framework to assess the impact of climate change and ocean acidification in areas outside any country’s jurisdiction, and (d) promoting cooperation in capacity-building and technology transfer to help countries achieve the convention’s objectives.
When it comes to conservation efforts, the high seas have long been a lawless Wild West. Existing frameworks were woefully inadequate in controlling environmental degradation and the loss of marine life. As a result, today, nearly 10% of all marine species are headed towards extinction. The newly concluded treaty creates tools and institutions that are aimed at moving the needle on this travesty.
Preparation of the treaty began with a resolution that the UN General Assembly adopted in December 2017, which sought to consider and codify the recommendations of a preparatory committee on the matter. Several hiccups followed, including a two-and-a-half year pause on account of the COVID-19 pandemic. In March 2023, however, parties agreed to the convention in principle, and the same was finally adopted on June 19.
Of course, the adoption of the convention is only the first step - and arguably the easiest step - in a long process. Signatories must now work its provisions into their national legal frameworks. Only 120 days after 60 countries ratify the treaty shall it come into force. This can take embarrassingly long; the UNCLOS, for instance, took twelve years to ratify. Only after this is complete can the real work of internationally-coordinated conservation even begin.
A Few Good Reads
China is wantonly skirting American chips controls. Tim Fist, Lennart Heim and Jordan Schneider discuss how the restrictions can be made more potent.
Vir Sanghvi dismantles “opposition unity”-themed analyses of national politics.
Syed Faizan Raza and Ali Fraz Rezvi write a eulogy for the lost libraries of Bihar.
As India and China kick out each other’s journalists, Ananth Krishnan wonders if anyone really benefits.
Subhashis Bhadra makes the case for greater due diligence accompanying India’s digitisation program.